Sports Beat

Buccaneers Add to Coaching Staff

Former North Carolina-Asheville associate head coach Frederico Santos took over the Barry University volleyball program this year, replacing Dave Nichols, who left to take over the NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Santos becomes the fifth head coach in program history.

Santos, a native of Brazil, brings more than 20 years of international playing and coaching experience to the Buccaneer program. At UNCA, where he spent eight seasons, the last three as associate head coach, he assisted in all phases of the Bulldog program including recruiting, on-court coaching, travel and pre-game setup. This is his first college head coaching position.

Former Buccaneer and Davidson assistant coach Avi Kigel took over the Barry University women’s tennis program, replacing Dr. George Samuel who led both the men’s and women’s programs for the last 17 years. Samuel will remain as the men’s coach.

Kigel spent the last four years as the assistant women’s coach at Davidson, helping lead the Wildcats to a 73-32 mark, including 33-7 mark in the Southern Conference.

Prior to Davidson, Kigel spent four seasons with the Bucs. His tenure was the high-water mark for the program, with a 90-22 record and national semi-final appearances in three of the four years. The Bucs set records in 2003 for wins in a season (27) and in 2005 for winning percentage (23-3, .884). In 2002, the Bucs won the Sunshine State Conference title and finished third at the NCAA Division II National Tournament. In 2003, they reached the national finals for the only time in program history.