MINNEAPOLIS -- Jane Gibbs, who led a dramatic turnaround of the Luther College (Iowa) volleyball program during the last three seasons, has been named the new head coach of the Augsburg College volleyball team, the college announced on Friday.

In three seasons as head coach at Luther, Gibbs turned around a program that had won just three matches in each of the two seasons prior to her arrival, leading the Norse to their first-ever NCAA Division III national tournament berth in 2009. The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Coach of the Year in 2009, Gibbs is 60-42 as a collegiate head coach.

Gibbs will replace Jessica Rinehart, who resigned from her Augsburg post in December to take over the program at Division II Northwest Missouri State. Rinehart had served as Augsburg's head coach for five seasons.

“Jane Gibbs brings great excitement to the Augsburg volleyball program. Her record speaks for itself and is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Augsburg athletic director Jeff Swenson. “Jane is a perfect fit for Augsburg College and Auggie athletics. We look forward to Jane taking our volleyball program from a playoff team to a conference and national championship contender.”

Gibbs is returning to her Minnesota roots with her new position at Augsburg. A native of Lakeville, Minn., she was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III All-American (2002, 2003) as a setter at the University of St. Thomas, earning All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors each of her four seasons (2000-03). She was named MIAC Player of the Year in 2003, and set four school records for assists during her tenure. Teams she played on finished 97-31 in her career, winning MIAC regular-season titles in 2002 and 2003.

“I am very excited to accept the head volleyball coach position at Augsburg College,” Gibbs said. “Throughout the hiring process, the athletic department, volleyball team and other faculty and staff members immediately made me feel at home. With their support, I intend to build upon a winning tradition that coach Rinehart has established over the last five seasons.”

As head coach at Luther, Gibbs took over a team that had finished 3-29 in 2005 and 3-27 in 2006, and her hiring immediately paid dividends. The Norse finished 15-15 in 2007, improving three spots in the IIAC standings. The following year, her squad finished 19-15, finishing fourth in the IIAC standings and qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time since the postseason meet had changed to a six-team format in 2005.

In 2009, the Norse had one of their best seasons in school history, finishing 26-12 overall -- the school's best record since 1993 -- while finishing second in the IIAC and advancing to the NCAA Division III national tournament for the first time in school history. In the national tournament, the Norse opened with an upset win over No. 15-ranked St. Benedict before falling to her alma mater, St. Thomas, in the second round.

After graduating from St. Thomas in 2004, Gibbs served as an assistant coach at Division I Gardner-Webb (N.C.) for two seasons, and was an assistant coach at Division III Wisconsin-River Falls in the 2006 season. While at Gardner-Webb, she also served as owner, director and coach of the Black Bear Volleyball Club, a youth volleyball club. She currently serves as owner, director and coach of All Love Volleyball, Inc., based in St. Paul, Minn.

Gibbs earned her bachelor's degree in philosophy and Spanish from St. Thomas in 2004, and her master's degree in sport science and pedagogy from Gardner-Webb in 2006.