Madden Quits As Gu Volleyball Coach Veteran Resigns After 10 Seasons Following Encounter With Player

Sean Madden, head volleyball coach at Gonzaga University for nearly 10 seasons, announced his resignation Wednesday.

Madden, whose departure takes effect immediately, left the team last Friday in San Francisco after a confrontation with one of his players. The incident, which involved physical contact during a time-out, occurred during that night’s match against the University of San Francisco.

As a result, Madden said he elected to leave the team in the care of assistant Eva Windlin-Jansen and fly home. Athletic director Dan Fitzgerald said the player was Jennifer Kubista. Kubista, a senior from Tacoma, and her identical twin Christine are the team’s top players.

Madden and Gonzaga announced Madden’s resignation in separate news releases. The veteran coach and Fitzgerald emphasized the decision was entirely Madden’s, although Fitzgerald suggested the incident could have led to the coach’s dismissal.

In a telephone interview late Wednesday afternoon, Madden gave his account of the events.

During Friday’s fourth game, with the Bulldogs trailing in games 2-1, Madden said he was talking to the player off to the side. He said that when he reached out to touch her shoulder, “It was obvious the player did not want to listen to me.”

Madden said she then took a seat on the bench.

“I bent over to make eye contact, the player was looking down,” said Madden. “Her hand moved slightly forward, as if to say ‘Leave me alone.’ “At that time, without thinking, my hand moved down to push her arm down. I did not raise my arm and swing down, anything like that. It was not to physically damage her arm.”

Madden, 39, whose 18 years of coaching includes stints in Sri Lanka and New Guinea, later telephoned Fitzgerald and said, “I think I need to go home and spend some time away.”

The team, which has floundered lately, played at San Diego on Saturday and at Eastern Washington Tuesday. The Bulldogs lost both matches and fell to 8-16 on the season.

Windlin-Jansen, who handled the team in those matches, will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Gonzaga will play the University of Portland at home Saturday night.

Fitzgerald said the matter was serious.

“Would the incident be grounds for termination?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes, it would. Would he be terminated? I don’t know that.

“In my mind, the incident, which was a serious incident, was only a part of this,” he said. “I don’t think Sean resigned over a single incident.”

Madden, who has never hid his passion for his sport, agreed.

“If I had 10 seconds to take it back I would,” he said. “But you have to look at the underlying situation, and I know I need to get away.”

Neither of the Kubista sisters wanted to talk about Madden’s resignation.

“It’s a tough situation and the team is sorry we had to lose a coach,” said Christine, while Jennifer nodded in agreement.

Madden leaves with a career record of 139-162. Gonzaga advanced to the NIVC Tournament in 1989 and made its only NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990.

“I’m not married, I don’t have kids,” he said. “Today, I divorced myself from my close friends at GU. It breaks my heart.”

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