New Augustana coaches Mark Lau, the men’s head volleyball coach, and Marty Resner, the women’s bowling coach, have begun their preparations for their coaching positions, hoping to find recruits before next fall.
Both Resner and Lau are the first coaches of the two sports, men’s volleyball and women’s bowling, that were inducted into the Augustana athletic program last year.
The two Augustana alumni are excited to return to Augustana and make an impact.
In regards to their teams, both Lau and Resner are looking deeply into recruiting. Lau said he wants to “go a little thin” in regards to the numbers of players on his team. He said he’s looking to have around 14 players on the team, of which he wants the majority to be freshman.
On the other hand, Resner is looking at all different ages such as players from junior colleges, clubs here at Augustana, transfer students, and incoming freshman.
As they both recruit, they will be drawing on their experiences coaching and playing at respective programs.
Resner has plenty of experience to offer as he has been playing since he was a child.
“I’ve bowled since I was five in a different league,” Resner said. “As a senior in high school, I became one of three captains and we took our team to a seventh place finish at our first ever state tournament.”
Before coming to Augustana, Resner was the assistant bowling coach for the men’s and women’s bowling programs at Bettendorf High School.
Lau has also been immersed in men’s volleyball, having coached the sport for six years. Previous to that, he has played for men’s volleyball programs such as Ball State University and the University of Hawaii. He has also played professionally in Germany.
Lau was the head coach at Graceland University for their men’s volleyball program before he was presented with an chance to coach at Augustana.
“When the opportunity came up to coach at Augustana, it was too good for me to not investigate,” Lau said.
Both coaches said they have not had any major troubles getting ready for next year and are focused on recruiting. Resner has also been focusing on locking down a place for the women’s bowling team to practice.