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Canisius University Athletics

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Tom Hanna 2023 Headshot

Tom Hanna

Canisius Director of Athletics Bill Maher announced in May 2022 that the school had hired Tom Hanna to serve as the head coach for the Golden Griffin volleyball program.

In his first season on Main Street, Hanna coached the 2022 MAAC Rookie and Setter of the Year, Ella Bourque. Two Golden Griffins also recieved All-Conference honors with Bourque getting named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team and getting named to All-MAAC Second Team alongside Ella Loussia. 

The Golden Griffins saw an immediate improvement in conference play under Hanna, going 11-8 and finishing fourth overall in the MAAC. The 2022 squad also finished the season ranked fifth all-time in program history for service aces in a single season with 191.

Hanna is no stranger to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), as he spent nine seasons in charge of the Marist volleyball program from 2006-15. During his time in Poughkeepsie, he helped lead the Red Foxes to a pair of MAAC regular season championship titles (2013 and 2014) and three MAAC Championship Final appearances (2009, 2013 and 2014). A two-time MAAC Coach of the Year selection after the 2013 and 2104 campaigns, Hanna recruited and coached the 2013 MAAC Player of the Year (Mackenzie Stephens), the 2013 MAAC Libero of the Year (Brooke Zywick) and the 2014 MAAC Setter of the Year (Amanda Schlegel).
 
One of only three volleyball coaches named to the MAAC 40th Anniversary Team in 2020, the Marist College graduate coached 16 All-MAAC selections, six All-MAAC Championship Team honorees and one MAAC All-Rookie award winner. Additionally, in the classroom, 61 of his Marist student-athletes were honored as MAAC All-Academic Team members and 10 of those players were also recognized as Academic All-District selections.  
 
"Tom Hanna brings terrific experience to our program and his successful history as a head coach in the MAAC will be a tremendous asset to our program," Maher said. "I pleased to have Tom lead this next chapter of Canisius volleyball and to work with him to earn the program's first MAAC Championship."
 
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead Canisius volleyball," Hanna said. "I thank Bill Maher, Lisa Liotta and Matt Reitnour for allowing me to become the next head coach of the Golden Griffins. I look forward to getting to know everyone on campus, starting with our student-athletes. The chance to return to the MAAC and pursue a conference championship is one that has me energized and I am excited to get the process started."
 
Most recently, Hanna served as the head volleyball coach at the University of Akron from 2015-21, where he helped lead the program to the 2019 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship tournament, the Zips' first postseason appearance since 2012. He recruited and coached four All-MAC honorees from 2019-21, including Taylor Sharrits, who became the first player in Akron history to be named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year after the spring 2021 campaign. His teams at Akron were strong in the classroom as well, with 59 student-athletes earning MAC Academic All-Conference accolades.
 
Hanna started his collegiate coaching career during his undergraduate days at Marist, where he served as an assistant coach for the Red Foxes, helping direct recruitment strategies for the newly scholarship-enhanced program. He served as interim head coach from November 1990 to May 1991. In addition to his responsibilities with the varsity women's team, Hanna also founded and served as head coach for Marist's men's club team.
 
Before becoming Marist's head coach, Hanna served as the assistant men's coach at Rutgers-Newark, helping his squad to the EIVA Tournament semifinals in 2000. He has four years of Division I women's experience as an assistant at Bowling Green, and also spent two seasons as the women's assistant at Ferris State University. Hanna spent three years assisting both the men's and women's programs at East Stroudsburg and spent his second post-graduate season at Alaska-Anchorage, helping the nationally-ranked Seawolves to the 1992 Pacific Conference Co-Championship in the Western Division.
 
Hanna graduated from Marist with a bachelor's degree in communications and a New York State Coaches Certificate minor in 1991. He continued his education at East Stroudsburg, where he earned his Masters of Education with a concentration in sports management. Hanna and his wife, Kristin have two children, Caroline and Jillian, who is currently a member of the Canisius volleyball program.