| Title: | Head Volleyball Coach |
| Phone: | (903) 875-7484 |
| Email: | volleyball@navarrocollege.edu |
ARIEL APOLINARIO, VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH
King University
Ariel Apolinario begins his fourth season as head coach of Navarro's volleyball program.
His Bulldogs enter the 2023 fall season with a three-year record of 65-27, three consecutive Region XIV Tournament appearances, one NJCAA national tournament qualification and a .707 winning percentage. His 2022 Bulldogs went 27-8, earned national ranking between Nos. 13 and 18 for seven of the NJCAA's 10 polling periods and gained the region's No. 2 seed for the post-season tournament.
Apolinario's 2022 Bulldogs, national Division I leaders in aces, earned five all-region honors, including Freshman of The Year Hanna Tylska, Kalina Pylinska, libero Lilouann Bechec, outside hitter Ana Beatriz Nunes Dos Santos, and setter Berfin Mertcan. Tylska led NJCAA D-I in four statistical categories (service aces, plus per-set totals for aces, kills and points), ranked second in two others (total kills and pomts) and seventh in yet another (total attacks).
Apolinario's 2021 Region XIV Tournament qualifiers (18-13) landed five all-conference selections, led by a pair of returning sophomores -- first-team all-league outside hitter Tjasa Malnar and second-team libero Alessia Sonzini. Malnar topped NC in points and finished 19th nationally. Sonzini ranked 16th nationally in service aces and 28th in digs. The team won its second USMC/AVCA Academic award in as many seasons with middle blocker Wiktoria Warpechowska claiming all-Region XIV Academic honors.
Apolinario's 2020 Region XIV regular-season runner-up Bulldogs (20-6), led by NJCAA and AVCA All-American Nataly Garcia, swept 13 matches in the process of playing nine Top-20 ranked NJCAA teams on their schedule. His team, nationally ranked for 10 consecutive rating periods, earned five all-conference honors, plus two of the league's individual superlatives in Garcia (Newcomer) and Patricia Pantoja (Libero). Ten all-region academic players were among 12 graduates on Apolinario's 2020 squad. The team earned an NJCAA national tournament berth, but were forced to withdraw because of the coronavirus pandemic,
Since March, 2018, Apolinario served as an assistant for head coach Dawn Sullivan’s Rebels after spending two seasons in the same roles at Rice University (2016-18), Ohio University (2014-16), Austin Peay State University (2012-14) and Union University (2010-12).
Most recently, Apolinario helped UNLV produce 42 wins with back-to-back post-season trips to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship Tournament. The Rebels concluded 2019 ranked in the Top 100 in nine different statistical categories – second in aces (241), fifth in aces per set (1.88), 21st in kills (1,688) and team assists (1,568), 52nd in total attacks (4,358), 71st in hitting percentage (.233), 79th in winning percentage (.645), 83rd in assists per set (12.25) and 85th in kills per set (13.19).
At Rice University, Apolinario assisted as offensive coordinator and worked specifically with outside and right-side hitters. During that time, the Owls went 41-21, advanced to one C-USA Tournament Final, and to one National Invitational Tournament.
Two years earlier at Ohio University, Apolinario was a defensive coordinator, with focus on setters and middle blockers. The Bobcats went 48-14, including a pair of Mid-American Conference (MAC) East regular-season and conference tournament championships, plus a berth in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
On the court, he played two NAIA seasons at Newman University before the program was discontinued and then transferred to NCAA Division II member King University where he became a two-time all-conference player and was recognized as ‘Male Athlete of The Year’ in 2010.
Apolinario's recruiting class this past year at UNLV was awarded "Honorable Mention" by PrepVolleyball.com -- top 100 nationally -- and he also assisted in attracting another awarded class: this time, "Highest Honorable Mention" nationally by PrepVolleyball.com -- top 55 nationally -- during his last season at Rice University.
Apolinario was named one of the nation's 30 up-and-coming volleyball coaches under 30 years of age by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) following the 2017 campaign.
A native of Matanzas, Cuba, Apolinario graduated from King University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts (Spanish) and coaching minor. He is married to Barbara Lins Silva, an alumni of Laredo College and Houston Baptist University.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone: (903) 875-7484
Email: Ariel Apolinario
