Donan Cruz has developed a winning culture with the men’s volleyball program at Grand View and enters his ninth season as head coach of the 2019 semi-finalist team. In January 2011, Cruz was hired to lead the Vikings. The three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2017) has led the program to become a national powerhouse being rated as a top five program in the last six seasons. At the helm, he has guided the Vikings to the NAIA National Invitational Championship match in three straight years (2016, 2017, 2018) and three semifinal appearances (2014, 2015, 2019). In 2018, the Vikings captured its first and only National Championship in program history. Cruz was named the National Tournament Coach of the Year while Felix Chapman was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
Grand View won the NAIA North Division title in 2014 and 2015, and the Heart of America Conference Championship in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. He has coached multiple First Team All-Americans (Nikola Vukicevic 2012, 2014; Pedro Cardoso 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017; Felipe Rose 2016, 2017; John Chamone 2018, 2019; Felix Chapman 2018, 2019) and All-Conference performers and two NAIA National Players of the Year (Cardoso 2014, Chapman 2019).
Cruz has also served as an assistant volleyball coach for the Viking women's team during the 2009-2016 seasons. During this time, the women won multiple conference titles and multiple National Tournament appearances.
Cruz is an active member of the USA Volleyball Community. The last two summers he served as the lead camp coach for the Iowa Region – boys high performance camp in Cedar Rapids. In July of 2019 Cruz was an assistant coach for team USA’s boys Select A1 Program at the High Performance Championship in Ft. Lauderdale. In 2017, he served as the associate head coach for the Boys USA Volleyball A2 Camp in Colorado Springs. He participated in the same capacity at the A3 camp in Vernon Hills, Illinois in 2016. He was also involved in the High-Performance Championships from 2012-2015 in Des Moines, Tulsa, Ft. Lauderdale and Tucson. Following the High-Performance Championships in 2015, Cruz served as a training coach for the USA Boys Youth National Team in preparation for the U19 World Championships in Argentina. He assisted as an apprentice coach with the USA Women’s Junior National Team in 2012. In 2011, Cruz coached the first Iowa Region boys’ team at the HP Championships in Tucson, Arizona.
Cruz played his college career at Graceland University where he was an outside hitter and defensive specialist for the Yellowjackets. He was the team captain his junior and senior seasons. Graceland is also where Cruz got his collegiate coaching start under Stew McDole. Cruz spent two seasons as an intern student coach with the lady Yellowjackets and spent his last year as an intern recruiting coordinator at GU. Cruz graduated from Graceland in 2006 with a degree in Marketing Communications. He resides in Urbandale with his wife, Anna, and their sons, Nixon and Nevon.
