Terry Liskevych

Taras "Terry" Liskevych[a] (/lɪˈskɛvɪtʃ/ liss-KEV-itch;[1] born October 14, 1948) is a Ukrainian-American retired volleyball coach.

[2] The highlights of these victories were: Leading up to his National Team career, Liskevych coached men's volleyball at Ohio State University (1974–1976), where he twice took the team to the NCAA tournament Final Four in 1975 and 1976 and posted a two-year record of 45–7 (.865 winning percentage).

He was there for nine seasons (1976–1985) and accumulated a record of 267–85 (.759) as University of the Pacific finished top five in the nation six of his nine years.

Growing up, Liskevych led a life fairly typical of a post-World War II Eastern European immigrant child – attending a local grammar school, St. Nicholas, and going to Ukrainian language school on Saturdays.

[2] He guided the Buckeyes to the co-championships of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), and to a third-place finish in both the 1975 and 1976 NCAA National Championships.

Accomplishments at Ohio State: University of the Pacific (1976–1984) In the summer of 1976, Liskevych left Ohio State for Stockton, California, where he made the switch to women's collegiate volleyball, becoming the head coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

[8] Accomplishments at University of the Pacific: Taras Liskevych began his international career in 1975 as the USA Women's assistant coach under Arie Selinger.

A year later the team started making steps toward becoming a world contender by winning the Canada Cup and placing third at the Goodwill Games.

[6] By 1990, Liskevych had established the American team as a dominant force in international women's volleyball with a third-place finish at the World Championship.

After losing a hard-fought match to Cuba (2–3), the women played magnificently the next day in defeating Brazil 3–0 for the bronze medal.

He served on several Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) committees – 1998–2001 – and spent time as a consultant for the Australian national teams from 1995 to 2004.

After coaching the USA National Team for 12 years, Liskevych decided to enter the business world – 1997–2004.

[9] Liskevych became the 10th volleyball coach in school history April 4, 2005, replacing Nancy Somera, who left OSU after leading the Beavers for the previous six seasons.

[9] In 2005, Liskevych's squad showed dramatic improvement, if not with its win–loss record, then certainly with its hustle and determination on the court.

Through the ups and downs of learning the ins and outs of a new team, a new coaching staff and a new university, the Beavers came together to show improvement in all aspects of the game, allowing Liskevych to evaluate the entire program, to determine his needs for the future, both on the court and off.

A pair of players earned All-Pac-10 honors and Liskevych returned the majority of the team, looking for even more improvement in 2008 with his youthful squad.