Akron volleyball has seen continual growth under the tutelage of fourth-year head coach Ron Arenz. The Zips’ record has improved each season, and the program has again become a threat in the Mid-American Conference. Before his arrival, UA tallied just seven MAC wins from 2005-07. With Arenz, the Zips have notched 17 league victories since 2008.

Arenz has also coached three All-MAC performers, one each season, for the first conference honors for Akron since 2004. In addition, he has placed two student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC team and earned two AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) academic awards during his tenure.

Going 11-17 overall and 5-11 in the MAC during his first season (2008), Arenz immediately brought change to the Zips. The five league wins during his first year were the program’s most since 2004. He followed that success by grabbing a 14-18 overall record in 2009 while leading the squad to another season with five conference wins. Brionna Patterson was named to the All-MAC Second Team after leading the Zips with 492 kills for a 3.97 kills per set average.

The best was yet to come, as Akron posted a 15-17 record in 2010, as well as a 7-9 mark in the MAC, the most overall and league wins for UA since 2003. The Zips also recorded a win over perennial MAC champion Ohio in Athens for their first defeat of the Bobcats since 2003. Tina Dimitrijevs earned All-MAC Second Team honors as a junior after finishing the season with an impressive .367 hitting percentage in 83 sets played. She also made the All-MAC Freshman team in 2008.

"The leadership of the University of Akron has created a comprehensive environment for today's student-athlete," said Arenz. "The resources that the University provides our student-athletes increases opportunities for academic and athletic success. Compliment those resources with our membership in the very competitive Mid-American Conference, and you have a very attractive place for competitive student-athletes to develop into well-balanced young men and women. I believe success can be achieved in both academic and athletic realms without sacrificing one for the other, and the University of Akron provides that avenue."

Arenz was introduced as the ninth head coach in the history of the Akron volleyball program on Feb. 5, 2008. Arenz, who served as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2002-04, joined the Zips family after guiding the University of West Alabama to a banner season in 2007.

In his second year at the helm, Arenz led the UWA Tigers to just their fourth winning season in the program's 29-year history with a 27-6 overall record (8-4 Gulf South Conference) last fall, marking a remarkable 18-match turnaround. UWA was ranked as high as 25th nationally in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Top 25 poll, cracking the elite group for the first time in school history.

The Tigers opened the 2007 campaign with a program-best 18-match winning streak and placed three players on the all-conference team, one on the all-region team and eight on the all-academic team.

"Ron Arenz turned our program around at light speed and he, his excellent staff and our great players all share in this recognition," said UWA Director of Athletics E. J. Brophy at the time of his hiring. "We will miss Ron dearly but greatly appreciate all the tireless work he has put into our volleyball program here at UWA. Akron is getting a gold mine in Coach Arenz."

Prior to his time at UWA, Arenz spent one season as an assistant coach at Michigan State University (2005-06), three seasons at Western Michigan (2002-04) and one season at the University of Denver (2001-02), all in the same capacity. During his tenure at the Division I level, he assisted in the development of one Big Ten, seven Mid-American and two Sun Belt all-conference selections.

"In my opinion, Ron Arenz is a perfect fit at the University of Akron," said Michigan State head coach Cathy George at the time of his hiring. "Ron has had experience as an assistant both in the MAC and the Big Ten which will serve him well in this transition. He clearly has demonstrated the ability to turn a program around as a head coach and will do an amazing job as he takes the reigns at the University of Akron."

Arenz began his career in the volleyball hotbed of the west coast for the California Juniors Volleyball Club in Long Beach, Calif. Serving both as head and assistant coach, his California Juniors teams won multiple championships in the 18- and 16-under divisions of the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA).

"Akron is getting a terrific coach, but an even better person to lead their volleyball team," said WMU head coach Colleen Munson when he was hired to lead the Zips. "Ron has done a tremendous job in building the skills and confidence of the young women he coached at West Alabama. We look forward to having a coach with his integrity and knowledge of the sport in our league."

During that time, Arenz trained nine U.S. Junior Olympic All-American players, two Volleyball Magazine Fab-50 players and one U.S. Junior National Team member. Following his stint with the California Juniors, Arenz coached for the Colorado Foothills VBC in Denver, Colo. and the Dead Frogs of Kalamazoo, Mich.

In 2001, he coached the Dead Frogs team to a Michigan Regional 16-under Championship. He was selected to coach Michigan's inaugural Lakeshore Region High Performance team in the 2005 USAV High Performance National Championships.

Still spending time nurturing high school athletes while at Akron, Arenz coached the Ohio Valley Region High Performance Select team during the 2009 summer.

The Cerritos, Calif. native is a 1995 graduate of California State University - Long Beach, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Geography. He also received his Master of Education from National University in 2002.

Arenz and his wife, Noelle, reside in Akron, Ohio. The couple has one son, Jay.

Dos Santos, entering her fourth season with the Zips, joined the Akron volleyball coaching staff in 2008 after having assisted in a monumental turnaround at Central Michigan University and brings international experience to the fold as a former standout athlete at Marist College. She was promoted to first assistant during the summer prior to the 2010 season and handles all aspects of recruiting, along with opponent scouting, the scheduling of tournaments and dealing with equipment. 

“Passion and motivation are only a few words that describe Aline,” head coach Ron Arenz said at the time of her hiring. “Her work ethic and international experience will be relied upon immediately. Having learned this game in her home country of Brazil, her insight to our development will be critical as we make our moves towards winning championships in the MAC.”

As a graduate assistant at CMU, dos Santos helped spur the Chippewas to the biggest turnaround season in MAC history and seventh-best in NCAA history in 2006 when Central Michigan posted a record of 17-13; a 12.5-game reversal from the previous year. The improvement continued in 2007 as the Chips notched their first 20-win season (22-10) in 22 years and second winning season in the MAC (10-6) since 1996.

Dos Santos enjoyed a brief, record-setting career as a player at Marist College prior to joining the CMU staff. The two-year letterwinner, whose career was cut short due to an injury, left the school with a host of records including three career and four single-season milestones. She served as a student assistant coach her final two years.

As of 2007, her two-year totals of 708 kills and 2,039 attacks both rank fifth in Marist’s career records and she is seventh in career digs with 550. She also set the team’s single-season mark for kills (436) and attacks (1,231) during her sophomore season. She was named to the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic team as a sophomore and was elected team captain prior to her sophomore and junior seasons.

Dos Santos served as a teaching assistant in 2005-06 at Staples High School in New York. She was also the varsity assistant coach of the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams and led the boys to the 2006 FCIAC championship title.

The Sao Paulo, Brazil native graduated from Marist in 2005 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication. She was named to the Dean’s List all four years and earned the Marist College President’s Academic Achievement Award in 2005. In 2008 dos Santos graduated from Central Michigan University with a master’s in sport administration.

In the 2009 off season, along with former assistant coach Cass Dixon, Dos Santos coached the Open Level of Girls 16’s and under and led her team to the USA Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships where they finished 25th in the country.

Dos Santos resides in Akron, Ohio.

Jayme Plummer enters his second season as a full-time assistant coach for the Zips. He was promoted to the position in the fall of 2010 after serving as a graduate assistant in 2009. Plummer's main responsibilities include all travel, video exchange and summer camps.

"I am excited to be in a position to elevate Jayme as a full-time assistant coach," said Arenz at the time of his promotion. "In the past year, he has demonstrated his passion for coaching and the mentoring of our student-athletes. I look forward to the countless contributions that he will continue to make towards the success of our program."

After spending the 2009 season as a graduate assistant, Plummer filled in as an temporary assistant coach in the summer of 2010 after the resignation of former coach Cass Dixon. Performing well, Arenz made Plummer a permanent part of the staff in September.

"This could not have worked out better for me," said Plummer. "I get to work with a highly respected coaching staff that is building a program on the rise along with great student athletes and I am close to where I was raised. I feel very blessed to be given this opportunity."

A club player at Kent State University from 2000-04, Plummer brings five years of coaching experience to the program. After coaching a women's club team at KSU in 2004, Plummer went on to coach the Quiksilver Volleyball Club from 2004-2009 where he led his team to as high as a third place finish at nationals in 2008. Moving onto the college ranks in 2007, Plummer was an assistant coach at Cleveland State for two seasons (2007-08) where he helped the team grab the 2007 Horizon League tournament title and an NCAA tournament appearance.

A native of Columbia High School in Columbia Station, Ohio, Plummer graduated in December of 2008 from Cleveland State with a degree in art education. Currently, Plummer is continuing his education at Akron by working on a master's of sports physiology.

Beth Greulich joins the Akron Volleyball staff as a graduate assistant after a tremendous playing career at Cleveland State. The Troy, Ohio, native was a three-time All-Horizon League First Team honoree and Co-Newcomer of the Year over her four-year career. She also claimed the Horizon League Player of the Year award to cap her senior season after helping the squad to the first-ever regular season conference title in program history.

Earning further accolades after her senior year, Greulich was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team and also became an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. She graduated from CSU with a degree in exercise science in 2010.