GREENVILLE, Pa. (May 30) -- Thiel College Director of Volleyball/Head Men's and Women's Volleyball Coach Dylan Lasher '15 has accepted an offer to be the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at Division II Slippery Rock University.

Lasher, who recently completed his fifth season running the Thiel men's program, led the Tomcats to their most successful season in program history as the Blue and Gold won a program-record 22 matches, claimed the inaugural Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship and made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. He was named the PAC Coach of the Year for those efforts. Lasher also collected his 100th career victory across men's and women's volleyball on March 1, a 3-1 triumph at Hiram.

Lasher concludes his Thiel men's tenure as the winningest coach in program history with a 62-59 record. After winning one match and having just eight players in his first season, Lasher turned the men's program into a national contender that is primed for success in the immediate future. 

Lasher coached two conference newcomers of the year, one conference player of the year and 14 all-conference players on the men's side. In the women's game, he guided six Tomcats to all-conference status. 

Lasher inherited a women's program that went 3-22 in 2023 and immediately made it a contender in his first full season with the squad, guiding the Tomcats to a 17-9 record in 2024 and a return to the PAC Championship Tournament. The 14-win improvement from 2023 to 2024 was the second-best year-to-year improvement among all 419 NCAA Division III women's volleyball programs last fall.

A national search for the next leaders of the Thiel Men's and Women's Volleyball programs is currently underway and is expected to be completed in the near future.