Mike Owen arrived at UIC in April 2017 from Southern Illinois University, where he had been serving with head coach Justin Ingram. Owen primarily assisted in the areas of recruiting, practice planning and coaching, statistical and video analysis.
During the 2016 season, Owen was on staff at Michigan State as a volunteer assistant coach. He helped the Spartans win 25 matches, most since 1996, and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Owen primarily mentored the middle hitters and developed team blocking schemes, helping All-America Second Team honoree Alyssa Garvelink average 1.40 blocks per set overall and 1.6 in Big Ten play. He was also heavily involved with MSU's Summer Volleyball Camps, which tutored more than 1,300 young players.
Prior to his arrival in East Lansing, Owen spent two years at another Big Ten program, Nebraska. The Huskers won 55 matches in 2014 and 2015, culminating in a 2015 NCAA National Championship. As a graduate student manager, Owen assisted in all aspects of scouting including shot charts, rotation analysis, and creation of scouting reports. He also aided Nebraska's recruiting efforts. Owen obtained a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Nebraska in May 2016.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Owen served as the national level head coach for ages 14-17 at the Volleyball Club Nebraska from 2015-16. He also worked at numerous summer camps across the country, including: Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State, Florida, Marquette, Iowa State and Michigan State.
Owen starred collegiately at Harvard from 2011-14. A force in the middle, the Middleton, Wis., native ranks seventh on Harvard's all-time block assist list with 131 and 10th on the all-time total block list with 141. He showed his versatility by starting at several different positions for the Crimson over four years, including: opposite, middle blocker, outside hitter and setter. Owen obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in May 2014.
