Passarelli Earns Promotion on Kent State Volleyball Coaching Staff
8/8/2015 10:51:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Head Coach Don Gromala announced that Mike Passarelli has been promoted to interim assistant coach. Passarelli, who has vast coaching experience at many levels, returned to his alma mater in 2014 as a volunteer assistant.
"We were very fortunate to have a coach of Mike's caliber previously connected with our program when this recent coaching change came about," Gromala said. "It was an easy decision to promote Mike for the season, as he brings a wealth of knowledge from varying coaching backgrounds while adding a high level of energy to the M.A.C. Center gymnasium as a proud Golden Flashes alum."
Most recently, Passarelli served as an assistant coach at Hiram College from 2010-13. He helped lead the Terriers to 99-37 record along with one conference title and one NCAA postseason appearance over the four-year span. Hiram claimed a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship, ending Wittenberg's NCAC record 67-match conference winning streak in the process, during his first season on the sidelines. The Terriers won 27 matches the following season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a first round victory over Stevenson (Md.) University.
Passarelli has coached at the high school level and with various club teams. He was an assistant coach with the Academy Volleyball Cleveland (AVC) 17 National team that won the AAU Open Division national championship in June.
Volleyball was very much a part of Passarelli's time as a student at Kent State. In addition to being a student assistant with the varsity women's program, he played, coached and helped organize the men's club team. A two-time first-team Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) award winner, Passarelli was also named Offensive Player of the Year in 2008.
A native of Tallmadge, Passarelli earned a degree in exercise science from Kent State in 2008.
