Volleyball coach notches 400th win in November
Brandon Rosenthal, all-time winningest active volleyball coach in ASUN history, earned his 400th win in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ASUN Championship in November.
From Staff Reports |
This story originally appeared on Nov. 21. 2024
The quarterfinals of the 2024 ASUN Championship in November not only brought victory for the Bison volleyball team, but also marked Coach Brandon Rosenthal’s (MBA ’03) 400th win.
The win, against University of North Alabama, put Rosenthal among the top 50 active winningest coaches in NCAA Division I at the time of the game. Going into the game, he already held the title of all-time winningest active volleyball coach in ASUN history.
“Sometime in the off-season, I knew that 400 was a possibility, but it was going to be in the latter part of the year, and I totally forgot about it until the ESPN production crew mentioned something,” said Rosenthal, after he was very much surprised by being doused with cooler water on his way into the locker room post-game.
“It’s one of those wins you never forget,” he said. “I think it speaks to the people that I have been around for years. What is awesome is the memories I have of all the people and the staff leading up to this. I can’t thank them enough. All the credit should go to them and the girls.”
In his 22nd year at Lipscomb, Rosenthal’s Bisons finished the season as ASUN Championship runners-up, making their 12th championship final appearance in 20 total berths.
Rosenthal’s volleyball experience spans the country. Born in Burbank, California, Rosenthal got his first taste of volleyball on the West Coast. When his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he spearheaded a drive to add volleyball to the varsity programs at his high school.
His West Coast roots led him back to the “Golden State” for college, where he continued his love for the game by playing club volleyball at Pepperdine. Rosenthal earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, before earning a Master of Business Administration from Lipscomb.
After spending two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Lipscomb, Rosenthal became one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division I at age 25. He took over a program that had never won more than four matches in a season and immediately grasped the challenges facing him.
In 2007, Rosenthal directed Lipscomb volleyball to its first-ever ASUN Conference Tournament Championship, its first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament and its first overall winning season in the NCAA era. The 2007 team was the first to win 20 games in a season.
Rosenthal’s teams have made eight NCAA Tournament appearances, earned seven ASUN Tournament Championships and earned six regular-season ASUN titles. His Bisons have two undefeated ASUN seasons, a 46-game conference unbeaten streak under their belt and nine ASUN Players of the Year.
Rosenthal is 401-256 at Lipscomb, with a .610 winning percentage. In the ASUN, he holds a 227-69 record and a .769 winning percentage.
Since taking on his role at Lipscomb, Rosenthal was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South Region Coach of the Year and the ASUN Conference Coach of the Year for 2014 and 2009.
The statistics posted by Lipscomb volleyball as a team and as individual players have been increasingly impressive each season, but Rosenthal thinks the game of volleyball is about more than the numbers, he said.
Rosenthal works hard to recruit players who possess a passion not only for volleyball but also for life, he said. He looks for players who are willing to put forth the effort to succeed on a daily basis, whether on the court, in the classroom or out in the community, he said.