Vilis Ozols, who has national team playing experience and Division I coaching experience, has been named Niagara women’s volleyball head coach.

“We welcome Vilis to the Niagara University family,” Director of Athletics Tom Crowley said. “Vilis has an outstanding background in volleyball and we know he will work hard to build on our recent volleyball successes.”

Ozols spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Wyoming Cowgirls where he was responsible for all aspects of coaching, training, practice, recruiting and program management. The Cowgirls went 42-22 in his two years there and his defensive schemes placed Wyoming second in the nation in blocks per set in the 2012 season.

“I am honored and very excited to coach the volleyball program at Niagara University,” Ozols said. “I look forward to the process of building the Purple Eagles into a championship caliber team. Everything about Niagara University said that this was the place for me. It’s a beautiful campus, with a first rate education, great facilities and a tradition of success. I am thankful to Athletic Director Thomas Crowley, and Associate Athletic Director Stephen Butler and Assistant Athletic Director Sherri Dooley for their confidence in me and for their professionalism during the search process.”

Prior to joining the Cowgirl program, Ozols was at the University of Colorado where he spent a season as an Assistant Coach with the Buffs.

Before entering college athletics, Ozols coached at Mullen High School in Denver, Colo. from 2007-2010. He led them to top-ten state finishes in those four years (second, third, seventh and ninth-place finishes) and the first Centennial League Conference Championship in the school’s 66-year history. The team also won the District and Regional Championships three times. Several of his former players moved onto collegiate volleyball careers. Previous to that, he coached several club and All-Star teams, which helped him earn a Canadian National Championship.

Ozols played collegiate volleyball at the University of Guelph in Canada and was a four-time First Team All-Conference selection, a three-time conference player of the year and was inducted into the Guelph’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. He is also a former Canadian Jr. National Volleyball Team member (NORCECA Silver medalist, Jr. World championship qualifier), a First Team All-Canadian selection and a former competitor on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.

He has an MBA from Colorado-Denver and is the founder and president of the Ozols Business Group.  He is an international business speaker who has presented to audiences on three continents, in nine countries and in all 50 U.S. states. Ozols has authored three business books, numerous audio and video programs and is a frequent contributor of magazine and trade publication articles.