Feb. 27, 2004

EAST LANSING, Mich.-Michigan State head volleyball coach Chuck Erbe announced the promotion of assistant coach Daune Koester to the first assistant position and the hiring of Ed Tolentino Friday. The changes are effective March 1, 2004.

"This is an outstanding staff and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to work with Daune and Ed in their new roles,” said Erbe.

Koester is entering her fourth season at Michigan State. She works with MSU's outside hitters, defense, passing and will head the Spartans' recruiting efforts with the promotion. A Detroit native, Koester worked as an assistant coach at Georgetown University from 1999-2000. She was a standout performer for the University of Maryland team from 1993-96 and served as team captain in two seasons. Koester was named to the ACC's 50th Anniversary All-Conference volleyball team.

"Daune has made many valuable contributions to the success of our program,” said Erbe. "I felt she deserved the promotion to first assistant. Her primary responsibility will be recruiting, where she will be the point person for all our national and regional recruiting efforts. She will also run our summer camp program.”

Tolentino comes to MSU from Eastern Michigan, where he served as an assistant coach for the last two seasons. At EMU, he was responsible for coordinating team travel, recruiting and scouting. The Eagles posted a 27-7 record in 2003.

"Ed is a great hire for us,” said Erbe. "He brings a tremendous amount of experience to our program, as he was the first assistant at Eastern Michigan for each of the last two years. Ed will work closely with Daune in our recruiting efforts, organize and supervise our team travel and be in charge of the technology aspects of our program.”

Tolentino also spent two stints at Oakland University, serving as the head coach from 1999-2002 after working as an assistant coach from 1997-1998. In addition, he has worked for USA Volleyball within Michigan and as a coordinator for the Junior National Team High Performance camp tryouts.

"I'm ecstatic to have this opportunity to work at Michigan State,” said Tolentino. "I'm looking forward to working with Chuck (Erbe) and Daune (Koester). I'm really hoping for big things with Michigan State volleyball, and to have the opportunity to help the team prepare to not just win the Big Ten Conference title, but to have an impact on the national level.”

A graduate of Detroit Mercy, Tolentino received his bachelor's degree in sports medicine in May 1997. He also attended Macomb College from 1991-1994, where he played on the Macomb men's volleyball team. Tolentino served as the team captain his senior year.