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One of the top coaches in collegiate volleyball history, Don Shaw has established Stanford as a national powerhouse in his 20 seasons on The Farm.
Shaw enters his 15th season as sole head coach of the Cardinal in 2000. He has been honored nationally on several occasions as he was named National Coach of the Year (1991), Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year (1997), and Regional/District Coach of the Year (1992, 1994, 1997).
Shaw has played a big role in helping the Stanford volleyball program achieve the national prominence it now holds. He led "The Team of the Decade" to four NCAA Championships (1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) and five title game appearances in the 1990's. He has compiled an all-time record of 440-70 (.863) in 14 seasons at Stanford, the top all-time winning percentage among Division I women's volleyball coaches. In Pacific-10 matches, Shaw is an amazing 229-23 (.909). His winning percentage in the final six years of the decade (1994-99) is an even more impressive .924 (183-15) overall and .963 (104-4) in the Pacific-10. All told, Stanford has reached the NCAA title match eight times and has been ranked among the nation's top 12 teams during Shaw's tenure.
Shaw has reached several milestones in the past two seasons. Last year, Shaw coached his 500th collegiate game at Arizona State (November 12, 1999) after having picked up his 400th career win at Washington (October 30, 1998). Shaw is just 10 wins shy of 450 career victories entering the 2000 campaign.
In Shaw's initial season as a Stanford assistant (1980), the Cardinal reached the postseason for the first time, placing ninth in the AIAW tournament. The following year, the Cardinal placed fifth in the first-ever NCAA women's volleyball tournament, followed by six consecutive trips to the Final Four (1982-87). The Cardinal finished second three times during this stretch. Shaw served as a co-head coach in 1984 and 1985 before being promoted to head coach in 1986.
In 1987, Stanford went 29-7 and capped the Final Four run with another runner-up finish. The Cardinal won the Pac-10 title with a 17-1 conference mark and Shaw was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year that season.
In 1991, he led the Cardinal to a 30-2 record and the No. 1 national ranking for all 12 weeks of the regular season. The AVCA named him the National Coach of the Year.
Stanford improved on that mark the following season, compiling a 31-2 record and capturing its first NCAA title. In 1994, Stanford set a school record for wins in a season, going 32-1 and winning another NCAA title.
Shaw led Stanford to its third NCAA title in five years and a 31-2 mark in 1996. The Cardinal wrapped up the title with the most lopsided victory ever in an NCAA championship match (15-7, 15-3, 15-5 over Hawaii).
The Cardinal then captured back-to-back NCAA titles for the first time when the 1997 club outlasted Penn State in a memorable five-game match in Spokane, Washington. Despite being depleted by injuries for most of the season, Stanford went 33-2 overall and 18-0 in the Pac-10.
Shaw has coached some of the top players in collegiate volleyball history as seven of his Stanford players have earned National Player of the Year honors. The impressive list includes Kim Oden (1984, 1985), Bev Oden (1990), Kristin Klein (1991), Cary Wendell (1994, 1995) and Kerri Walsh (1999).
His success has been noticed as he served as an assistant coach for the United States Women's Volleyball National Team that played in the 1991 Pan-Am Games in Havana, Cuba. Three of Shaw's Stanford players (Amy Cooper, Kristin Klein and Bev Oden) started for that team. Fourteen of Shaw's players at Stanford have played for the U.S. National "A" Team, including 1996 Olympians Kristin Klein and Bev Oden. Shaw also coached 1996 beach volleyball Olympians Barbara Fontana and Nancy Reno, and 1997 World University Games participants Eileen Murfee, Lisa Sharpley and Cary Wendell. Three of Shaw's pupils also played international competition during the summer of 1999. Kerri Walsh represented the U.S. at the World University Games, while Ashley Ivy and Logan Tom started on the U.S. Junior National Team.
Shaw himself was a member of the U.S. National Team in 1979. He earned All-America honors in leading Chuck's Steak House to the USVBA Open Division national championship in both 1977 and 1978. He was also a USVBA All-American in 1986, playing on the winning Billauer/Norfleet team in the Senior Division. He played professionally for the San Jose Diablos in 1979 and 1980 in addition to a successful career as a beach volleyball player.
Shaw also excelled in baseball and basketball. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1969 Baseball Amateur Draft, the same draft in which Stanford baseball coach Mark Marquess was picked by the Chicago White Sox. Shaw also played basketball at Loyola Marymount from 1971-73, leading the West Coast Athletic Conference in free throw percentage (.853) in 1971-72.
He received a bachelor's degree in sociology with an athletic coaching minor from UC Santa Barbara in 1977 while beginning his coaching career as an assistant for the Gauchos in 1976. He also served as an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning men's team at the 1982 National Sports Festival.
Shaw and his wife, Carolyn, reside in Menlo Park. They have two children: daughter, Jordan, 8, and son, James, 6.