Lipscomb volleyball head coach Brandon Rosenthal announced on Thursday the promotion of assistant Rachel Ferguson to associate head coach.
"I am excited about this promotion for Rachel," Rosenthal said. "Over the last couple of years, she's really done a great job of expanding the breath of her responsibilities. She has continually pushed the envelope with internal marketing in regards to our recruiting. She is very knowledgeable, so for her to take those strengths and really put them at the forefront of Lipscomb Volleyball has been fun to see.
"Her expansion of responsibilities with the team and how that has played out stat wise with our video breakdown is impressive. We've drastically changed some of that and I want to credit her for having that knowledge. This associate head coach title is thrown around a lot in the volleyball world and sometimes I question if it's something people just want or if it's something they've earned, and without a doubt Rachel has earned this title."
Ferguson enters her fourth year on staff, helping lead the purple and gold to a 47-29 overall record and a 33-11 mark in the ASUN Conference the last three seasons. In the spring of 2021, she helped guide the Bisons to their seventh ASUN title and the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance.
"First, I want to thank Brandon and our Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson for giving me this opportunity," Ferguson said. "After being here for four years and seeing how much this program has progressed, along with my relationship with Brandon and how much trust he has given me, this opportunity is something that I am extremely grateful and appreciative of.
"I've had other opportunities, but I want to be here at Lipscomb and continue building our program. We have so much more to do. I love working for this school and for our girls. This is such an honor and one that I am thankful for."
One of Ferguson's primary roles is serving as the recruiting coordinator, where in 2020 she helped reel in one of the top recruiting classes in program history. That incoming class was honored by PrepVolleyball.com with a Highest Honorable Mention, recognizing it as one of the top 60 recruiting classes in the nation across Division I.
Her other duties include helping run the offense and defense, scouting and presentation.
In her second season, Lipscomb ranked among the nation's leaders in multiple categories. The Bisons were sixth in kills per set (14.54) and eighth in assists per set (13.25), while also ranking top-20 in hitting percentage (16th - .271), aces per set (16th – 1.84), and total service aces (17th – 127).
Individually, Sami Rubal and Meg Mersman led the ASUN and ranked 25th and 28th, respectively, in hitting at .404 and .390.
Last season in 2021, the Bisons were sixth in the country in aces per set at 2.01 and 25th in total aces (203).
"I've been impressed in terms of her organizational piece," Rosenthal said. "She challenges me on a daily basis and I've always enjoyed that. I can tell when we've had assistants here for a couple of years because before I can finish a question, they are already giving me an answer. As a head coach, that is awesome to know we are all thinking on the same wave length.
"She's a tremendous young coach and someone who is really starting to come into her own, but more than anything, I love being around Rachel and we always have a good time with our back-and-forth. We've worked really hard building our relationship and trust amongst the staff the last few years, and she has played a huge part in making us a more cohesive unit."
Ferguson ventured to Nashville after spending one season with Indiana University as the volunteer assistant coach, where she was instrumental in helping build Indiana Volleyball Training - a business that includes more than 20 different camps for the Hoosiers program. Her job was to run the camp programing and create opportunities in the community.
Prior to arriving in Bloomington, Ferguson began working with USA Volleyball's Collegiate National Team (CNT) as the Technical Coordinator in 2017. She provided video analysis through an advanced technical system that allows every touch to be graded.
Ferguson also had a two-year stop at Grand Canyon University as the Director of Operations from 2016-18 where she managed the day-to-day operations for its women's indoor volleyball program. She also assisted the men's volleyball and beach volleyball programs at the director of each head coach.
Before her time at GCU, Ferguson served as an assistant coach at North Carolina Central University for the 2015-16 season. She also served as an assistant coach and head junior varsity coach in 2013 and 2014 at the University of Dubuque.
Ferguson was a four-year letter winner at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio where she recorded 2,551 assists from the setter position. She helped guide the Student Princes to three Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season championships, one OAC Tournament Championship and four consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearances while racking up a career record of 111-35.
"One big thing with my new role is hopefully I can take a little off of Brandon's plate," Ferguson said. "By taking more from him, I hope this helps put us in a position where we can continue to focus on the main things within this program. I can't stress how humbling this opportunity is and it's something that I am so excited about."
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up