Bolivar, Mo. – James Hanger is entering his fifth season at the helm of the SBU women's volleyball team beginning in Fall of 2024. Across the previous four seasons, he has turned the program around finishing with 14 wins the last two seasons, the most in back-to-back seasons since 1987 & 1988.
 
After back-to-back 14-win seasons, coach Hanger has 42 total wins. He also has highest win percentage by a volleyball coach since 1993. In his first season at the helm, he began making history picking up three conference wins, the first time since 2015. The year following, Coach Hanger doubled the GLVC win total to six continuing to add to his impressive coaching career as a Bearcat. Despite continuing to have strong performances within conference play, the Bearcats have fell just shy of the GLVC tournament the past three seasons.
 
"Every year we have been competing well. The last couple of years we have been right around .500 with a lot of youth and a lot of young talented athletes who are getting those reps and experience. That is a key part of how we have gotten better and how we will continue to get better." Coach Hanger said, "We have a goal to become a top-25 indoor volleyball program and are not going to be satisfied until we get there."
 
One of coach Hanger's biggest accomplishments across his time in Bolivar is defeating rival Drury in back-to-back seasons. This is something the SBU volleyball program has not achieved since 1996. They snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Panthers in 2022 by completing an epic comeback in the 5^th set. They trailed 12-14, then scored four straight points to down the Panthers on their home court. A year later, coach Hanger and the team won the second straight game against Drury on home court in similar dramatic fashion. They will look to make history on November 2^nd in Springfield going for their third straight win against the rivaled Panthers.
 
Before joining the Bearcats Coach Hanger spent three years as an assistant coach a Division I Samford University, where he was part of the first conference championship won by that volleyball program. He was also part of record-breaking seasons at Christian Brothers University to go along with his 20 years of coaching experience.
 
He earned his Bachelor's in Secondary Education and English from Drury University, then later earned his master's in athletic administration at Concordia University. Coach Hanger resides in Springfield with his wife Carol Sue and six-year-old daughter Merri Mae.