Nov. 20—GRAND FORKS — Jesse Tupac is out as UND volleyball coach after four years.
UND announced Thursday that the school and Tupac mutually agreed to part ways when Tupac’s contract expires Dec. 31.
Tupac went 35-77 during his tenure.
“I would like to thank all of the student-athletes that put in an incredible amount of time and dedication representing UND,” Tupac said in a statement. “In addition, I want to thank the Grand Forks community for its tremendous support over the past four years.”
A national search will begin immediately, according to UND.
This will be UND’s fifth coaching search in the last year. The Fighting Hawks have hired new head coaches for women’s soccer, football, men’s hockey and women’s basketball in 2025.
The Fighting Hawks went 2-16 and 1-29 in the two seasons before Tupac’s arrival. They went 12-18 (9-9 Summit League) and qualified for the conference’s postseason tournament in Year 1.
But the program failed to gain more traction than that.
UND went 7-21 (4-12) in 2023.
Then, UND went 9-18 (2-14) in 2024.
The Fighting Hawks went 7-20 (4-12) this season.
UND did not qualify for the six-team Summit League Tournament the last three seasons. UND’s season ended Tuesday with a loss to South Dakota State.
Prior to UND, Tupac served as New Mexico’s top assistant and recruiting coordinator. He also spent three years as an assistant at Denver.
Tupac’s wife, Kristen, served as UND’s associate head coach.
Matt Breitbarth has been the other full-time assistant for the last two seasons.
UND’s volleyball program vaulted into new heights when the school moved its athletic programs to NCAA Division I.
Coach Ashley Hardee turned UND into the dominant program in the Dakotas from 2009-13, going 16-3 against North Dakota State, South Dakota State and South Dakota.
Mark Pryor followed Hardee and brought UND to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2016 and 2017.
But the program has fallen off since then, posting eight consecutive losing seasons.
After going 119-23 in The Betty from 2008-18, the Fighting Hawks have posted losing home records seven years in a row.
UND’s 15th coach will have a building project.
The Fighting Hawks lose their top hitter, Paige Barber, and top libero, Izzy McCormick, to graduation.
