Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Saint Louis University assistant volleyball coach Santiago Restrepo would have to say goodbye.

Restrepo was recently named head coach of the women’s volleyball program at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“From the beginning, I knew that I was looking to be a head coach. I wanted to stay at least three years, then start looking for a head-coach position,” Restrepo said.

This season marked the end of Restrepo’s third season with the Billikens, and shortly thereafter, the opportunity at Southern Miss was presented.

“I started looking about a month ago. I interviewed Thursday and Friday (Jan. 17 and 18), they offered me the position Saturday (Jan. 19), and I took it,” Restrepo said.

In his three years here, Restrepo became an incredible factor in the Billiken squad.

Restrepo worked closely with the members of the team, and in addition to skill development, Restrepo became a great motivator for the team and had a strong presence in the gym.

“He became like everybody’s big brother; he was always really outgoing and friendly,” said head coach Marilyn Nolen.

All of the players returning next season have worked with Restrepo and will feel the loss.

“It will be an emotional loss. It’s hard when you grow up with someone,” said junior defensive specialist Dani Apted.

“We’re sad for us. It’s sad to lose a friend, but we’re happy for (Restrepo). We’re jealous of the Southern Miss girls who will have him [as coach.]”

The move will also be bittersweet for Restrepo.

“I’ll miss the people here. We’ve developed good community support and a wonderful corps of players.

“I’ve enjoyed their hard work, and they’ve really become something. They have a great work ethic,” said Restrepo.

The Billikens are continuing their search for a new assistant coach, while Restrepo is looking to the challenges of starting with a new program.

“We have some very good candidates.

“We’ve gotten a lot of resumes and calls,” Nolen said.

The Billikens will continue training and preparing for next season and are anticipating future matches against Southern Miss.

“It’ll be hard not to have him with us,” Apted said.

“We’re still working hard, we’re disciplined now through the team, not through him,” Apted said.

“Even though he’s gone, we’re still a team. It will be hard to play against (Southern Miss).”

Because of the move, Restrepo is forced to start recruiting later than many programs, and recruiting will be an area of concentration for him.

“We only have seven players returning, and one of them is injured,” Restrepo said.

“We will need to recruit heavily. We have seven scholarship positions that needed to be filled; two are taken.

“I’m working on the third, and the other two are open. Heavy recruiting will be a priority.”

Recruiting will not be an easy task, as spring training is rapidly approaching, but also because Mississippi does not have a high school volleyball program.

Restrepo will also be working on developing his new team.

This year, Southern Miss finished 12-19 overall, 4-12 in Conference-USA play.

“We’re hoping to be in the top half of C-USA. It will be tough to climb, but our goal is attainable.

“In four or five years, we hope to be in the top four of the conference,” said Restrepo.

For now, both teams will continue working diligently preparing for next season. Restrepo will work on recruiting and developing his new squad.

Nolen and the Billikens will continue searching for a replacement.

“We know what we’re losing,” said Nolen. “We hate to lose Santiago, and we don’t want to lose him. We won’t find another Santiago,” Nolen said.

Restrepo is a native of Bogota, Colombia. He served as a coach with the 1998 USA Youth National Team in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was asked to return for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.