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Date: 4/30/2015
SPRINGFIELD – Joel Dearing '79 was one of five individuals inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame April 18.
Dearing, a former men’s and women’s volleyball coach at Springfield College, will go down in the record books as one of the greatest Division III collegiate volleyball coaches of all time.
In 22 seasons at the helm of the program, Dearing led Springfield to an overall record of 595-196, accumulating a winning percentage of .752, ranking him in the top 10 all time in Division III. Over the course of his 30-year career as a coach, Dearing has an all-time win-loss record of 728-310, good for a .701 winning percentage.
In his 22 seasons with the women’s program, Dearing guided Springfield College to 19 seasons winning 20 or more matches and never posted a losing season. Earning NCAA Championship Tournament bids nine times, Dearing’s teams went to five straight NCAA Tournaments from 1993-1997, winning the Division III Northeast Regionals in 1995 and 1996 to advance to the national quarterfinals.
In his final year as a head coach of the program, Dearing posted an outstanding record of 31-5 and advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship. That season, Dearing was named NEWMAC Coach of the Year. A few season’s prior, in 2008, Dearing went 32-5 and won the NEWMAC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, earning NEWMAC and AVCA Regional Coach of the Year honors. In 2003, Springfield posted a record of 34-3, including a school record of 21 wins in a row.
Dearing spent seven seasons on the sidelines of the Springfield’s men’s program from 1989-1996, accumulating an overall record of 130-52, good enough for a sensational winning percentage of .714. Additionally, he was named the Division II Coach of the Year in 1991 and was chosen the EIVA Division III Coach of the Year in 1996.
During the 1997-98 academic year, Dearing was honored as a Springfield College Distinguished Professor of humanics and most recently; Dearing was the recipient of the Mintonette Medallion of Merit Award, presented to him by the Volleyball Hall of Fame.