All Aboard as New HC Cole Begins Fall Journey

By Francisco Claudio

 

Westcliff continues to find aces up its sleeve, and this new move promises to bring even more positive results.

 

The Westcliff women's volleyball team will try to continue from where they left off last season, just one step away from winning the Cal Pac Conference championship.

 

And this time it will be with the leadership of a new head coach, Andrew Cole.

 

Cole brings a lot of experience at the collegiate level to an already established team that has a strong culture embedded in its roots.

 

A match made in heaven if you will.

 

Cole grew up in the north-central state of Wisconsin where his first coaching job was at Glen Hills Middle School.

 

From then on out, Cole would have an impressive journey that would take him across the country and even overseas.

 

"I wanted to give back," said Cole. "Share experiences as best as they can be realistically shared. And be in a place that for many athletes is like a second home."

 

Cole was the women's graduate assistant at Loyola University of Chicago and during his time there was able to achieve a 150+ RPI win over NCAA tournament-eligible Northwestern.

 

He was the men's and women's assistant at Lewis University where they won three conference championships, awarded AVCA Top 30 Under 30, and earned a NCAA National Semifinal match upsetting alma mater Ohio State.

 

Cole was also offered to observe practices for one season with the women's team at Marquette University.

 

He would also spend time as the head coach at Cerro Coso Community College and had the opportunity to build a team from scratch and also committed to two student-athletes in the fall semester prior to enrollment for the first time in program history.  

 

"All previous commitments usually happened in the spring semester," said Cole.

 

Then his journey took him overseas where he spent time in Germany.

 

"Additionally, I coached one season in Germany for Rote Raben Vilsbiburg Damen II learning under former Argentinian and Swedish National Team Coach Guillermo Gallardo," said Cole.

 

He continues to spend his summers coaching in various camps like Gold Medal Squared, EXACT Camps, CCSC, USA Volleyball, and at more than 10 universities including the University of Wisconsin and the University of Nebraska.  

 

And Cole wanted to make sure he recognized his mentor: "I am currently mentored by AVCA Hall of Fame coach Ruth Nelson."

 

Now, the journey with Westcliff begins as both a champion-caliber coach and a championship-caliber team will work together to make big moves in the Cal Pac Conference and beyond.

 

"Similar to the 5Cs, there are five characteristics I work to embody and look for in players on teams that I coach," said Cole. "Those are Genuine, Reverent, Ambition, Responsible, and Perseverant.

 

"The vision for this program is to graduate all student-athletes, enable student-athletes to live a balanced life in such a transformative time in their life, and follow up a season's share of many wins by finishing each season with a win."

 

Athletics, academics, and finding genuine players are all intertwined and will be the formula to success for this team.

 

"Athletic attributes are important because playing the sport is an athletic endeavor," said Cole. "Regardless of those attributes that are somewhat uncontrollable, look for the aforementioned five traits. 

 

"I really work to pinpoint one for each player to have a deeper connection and identity within the team. Obviously, some will repeat but that can create a social milieu that may be a nice complement to the natural bonds the players develop when playing with each other."

 

And when things get tough and the team is struggling, Cole has a simple way of looking at these situations.

 

"All aboard the positivity train," said Cole.

 

Women's volleyball finished the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 21-8 and a conference record of 17-3.

 

Every year that they have competed has seen positive progression which is a common theme these days with Westcliff Athletics.

 

So there's a lot to look forward to as the entire team is complete again and ready to conquer this fall season.