ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Two-time Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Hallie Cruzen has been named an associate head coach for the Navy volleyball team, head coach Paco Labrador announced today.

Cruzen played at Wittenberg for Labrador and was a setter on the team's 2011 NCAA (DIII) National Championship team.

"Adding Hallie to the staff is an absolute coup," said Labrador.  "She is a veteran coach who knows how to train at an elite level, recruit high caliber student-athletes and inspire teams to reach their maximum potential.  Hallie and I have built trust and respect over many years.  She is wired to compete and loves a challenge.  I'm grateful to Hallie and her husband Cody for embracing this new opportunity.  

"Along with Hallie's fellow Navy assistant coach Kyle Anema, we are all excited to get started building toward success this fall."

"I am very humbled and honored to work for the US Naval Academy," said Cruzen.  "I am looking forward to working with Paco again and recreating some of the success we had at Wittenberg.  It's time to make some new memories and traditions, but it has been fun to reflect on the past.  Paco has so much knowledge and passion for the game, the Naval Academy and our team of incredible women. I am very excited to be a part of this journey." 

Cruzen has served as the head coach at Muskingum over the last eight seasons.  The Fighting Muskies had totaled two winning seasons in a span of seven years prior to her arrival in 2016.  The team amassed seven winning seasons, an overall record of 147-59 and an Ohio Athletic Conference record of 56-25 during her time at the New Concord, Ohio, school.  Muskingum also won a pair of conference regular season titles (2019, 2021 spring), qualified for seven conference tournaments and reached a pair of conference tournament championship matches with Cruzen at the helm.

On a national level, the Fighting Muskies appeared in the national rankings in 2019 –– for the first time in 17 seasons –– and 2021 (spring) and advanced to the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The 2019 team recorded the program's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1999.

Cruzen was named the conference coach of the year in 2019 and 2021 (spring) and her players totaled 21 all-conference accolades, which included seven first-team awards.  Muskingum players also won the conference's player (2021 spring) and newcomer (2023) of the year awards under Cruzen.  Additionally, three of her players earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-America awards.

Her assistant coach during the 2016 and '17 seasons was her Wittenberg teammate Kristina Fultz, who would later serve as an assistant at Navy during the 2018-21 seasons.

The native of Tipp City, Ohio, graduated from Tippecanoe High School in 2009.  Her Wittenberg teams posted an overall record of 120-19, won at least a share of four North Coast Athletic Conference regular season titles with a record of 53-1 and claimed four conference tournament crowns.  The Tiger reached the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons, an era that was highlighted with the 2011 national title.

Individually, Cruzen, who played on the college level with her maiden name of Donathan, appeared in 103 matches and 292 sets during her career.  She dished out 1,138 assists and grabbed 363 digs over her junior and senior seasons.

After graduating from Wittenberg with a biology degree in 2013, she remained at the school as an assistant coach for the program.  The Tigers put together an 83-16 overall record, a 24-0 record in conference regular season matches, won three conference tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of her three seasons on the bench.  Wittenberg advanced to the national championship match in 2015, her last season before accepting the head coaching position at Muskingum.

Combining her four-year collegiate playing and 11-year coaching career, her teams have won nine conference titles and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances.