Thanh Pham

Head Coach

Thanh Pham will start his seventh season as Tommie head volleyball coach in 2009.The Toms have finished ranked in the top 15 of national poll in each of the last three seasons, and have Division III's eighth-best record since 2005. Pham has been voted MIAC Coach of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2008 and UST has had the conference Player of the Year in three of the last six seasons.

Pham, who has 12 years of college coaching experience in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), was named UST head coach in April 2003. His six-year record with the Tommies is 159-42, including four MIAC titles and four NCAA playoff berths.

In his first season, Pham led the 2003 Tommies to a top-10 national ranking, a conference championship and a 24-6 final record. The 2004 Toms finished 20-14, and reached the MIAC playoff semifinals.

St. Thomas broke a long NCAA playoff drought in 2005 as it advanced to the region finals in a 30-7 finish. Pham's team won all 15 matches vs. conference foes and swept the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles. UST was ranked in the top 20 most of the season. Erika Wetzel earned All-America honors -- the third player in three seasons under Pham to receive the honor.

The 2006 Tommies finished 29-7, returned to the NCAA playoffs and were ranked 11th in the final Division III poll, led by senior All-American Rachelle Dosch. They placed third in the MIAC.

The 2007 Toms came within an eyelash of a trip the national quarterfinals as they lost 15-13 in game five to NCAA runner-up UW-Whitewater.Their 28-5 record included a 14-0 record vs. conference foes. Junior Katie McCaffrey received All-America honors, and Pham was named NCAA Central Region Coach of the Year.

In 2008, the Toms lost a five-set decision in the NCAA playoffs and finsihed 28-3, including a 14-0 mark against conference foes. McCaffrey repeated as All-American, and sophomore stetter Emily Foster also made the All-American team.

The 2008 Tommies were among 77 Division III teams and 229 collegiate women's teams in the all nation to receive a team academic award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Tommies received the honor for the sixth time in the last eight seasons for having a team grade-point average above 3.30 for the 2009-2009 school year. St. Thomas, Wittenberg, Washington (Mo.) and Trinity (Tex.) and were the lone teams ranked in the top 15 in the final AVCA poll to make this elite academic list.

Pham, a 1997 Augsburg College graduate, coached seven seasons in the Auggies' program. He was an assistant coach as an undergraduate from 1994-97, then was Augsburg's Interim and Co-Head Coach from 1998-2000. He also competed for three seasons in the Auggies' nationally-reknown wrestling program.

Pham also was a Junior Olympic coach for 11 seasons, the latter years as head coach of the Wayzata 17-1s. He also has served as the Wayzata Middle School volleyball coach, and has a background as a camp instructor and clinician. He has a master's degree from St. Mary's University in Minneapolis, and previously worked as a math teacher in the Wayzata school district.

"Thanh has the leadership and technical skills to continue the success in our volleyball program," said St. Thomas head coach Steve Fritz after the 2003 hiring. "We're excited and pleased he joined our staff."

Pham replaced Cole Tallman, who resigned in January 2003 to become head coach at Division I Gardner-Webb (N.C.) University near his home in Greenville, S.C. Tallman’s St. Thomas teams compiled a 94-37 record in four seasons, with two MIAC regular-season championships.
 
"It's exciting to become a part of a great program like St. Thomas has," Pham said at his hiring. "This is a volleyball program that's ready to do great things, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help take them there. It's not every day a program that just went 30-7 needs a head coach. Usually, a head coaching opportunity comes after a 7-30 season."

Pham said his experiences as a student-athlete and coach in the MIAC have been especially positive.

"The MIAC is such a great conference," he said. "You have the small-school flavor but the teams compete at such a high level, and there are great rivalries."

(NOTE: Thanh's name is pronounced TANG FAMM).

Thanh Pham Year-By-Year
Year---Overall-----MIAC (Place)
2003---24-6---------10-1 (1st)
2004---20-14--------8-3 (tie 3rd)
2005---30-7---------11-0 (1st)
2006---29-7---------7-4 (tie 3rd)

2007---28-5---------11-0 (1st)

2008---28-3---------11-0 (1st)

Totals/159-42 (.791)---58-8 (.879)