Cyclone Volleyball Camps

Cyclone Staff 

 
Director of Operations Jessica Klein

Jessica Klein, who played for Iowa State for two seasons (2005-06), is in her second season as Director of Volleyball Operations for the Cyclones.

In the newly created position, Klein will be responsible for team travel, community outreach and facility and camp coordination.

After beginning her playing career at Marquette, Klein left the Milwaukee, Wis., school following her freshman season in 2002.

Her arrival at ISU in 2005 coincided with head coach Christy Johnson’s arrival in Ames and she made an immediate impact, teaming up with Erin Boeve to form one of the best blocking tandems in the Big 12.

As a senior in 2006, Klein stuffed back the fourth most opponent attacks in school history, posting 137 block assists and helping ISU earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. She ranked sixth in the Big 12, averaging 1.37 blocks per game.

Klein finished her Cyclone career with 520 kills and 244 block assists, which ranks eighth all-time at ISU. Her .238 hitting percentage is seventh in the career record books.

The Lena, Ill. native coached with the Rockford (Ill.) Volleyball Club in 2004-05.

Klein earned her degree in communications in 2008.

Assistant Coach Dawn Sullivan

Dawn Sullivan is in her fifth year as an assistant coach with Iowa State. Sullivan has a tremendous background of success as both a player and a coach.

Sullivan’s primary responsibilities include coaching outside hitters and recruiting. In four years under Sullivan, the Cyclones have recorded three of the top-10 single-season hitting percentages in school history, including a school-record .234 percentage in 2008.

In 2008, Sullivan helped shape Victoria Henson into one of the top outside hitters in the country. Henson led the Big 12 averaging 4.19 kills per set while hitting a career-best .253 en route to earning AVCA third-team All-America honors. Additionally, Rachel Hockaday was named to the Big 12's All-Freshman Team after posting an ISU rookie record 353 kills.

Sullivan came to Iowa State after serving as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Illinois State for three seasons, helping build a strong Redbird volleyball tradition. Her playing career at Kansas State was brilliant. Sullivan, like ISU head coach Christy Johnson, is one of the best players in Big Eight/Big 12 Conference history. The former KSU All-American still ranks prominently in the Wildcat and Big 12 record books.

As a coach, Sullivan was instrumental in helping Illinois State post winning seasons in each of her three years in Normal, Ill. Sullivan helped the Redbirds post their 23rd consecutive winning season in 2004. In her three years at Illinois State, three Redbirds earned all-conference honors. Her efforts helped Illinois State draw tremendous crowds that ranked among the top 20 nationally in attendance in 2003.

Sullivan also helped forge a strong alumni support system through her organization of an annual alumni reunion gathering, in addition to assisting in the foundation of “Point Illinois State,” a booster club designed specifically for Redbird volleyball. She was a key member of the Illinois State athletic department and was a highly respected ambassador for the Redbird volleyball program.

Sullivan’s coaching career also includes a stint as a student assistant at Kansas State and as a club coach with the Flint Volleyball Club in Manhattan, Kan.

Sullivan was a record-setting collegiate player at Kansas State. The 5-10 outside hitter, who played for the Wildcats from 1996-99, racked up 1,611 kills and 1,258 digs in her remarkable career, one of only five KSU players to record more than 1,000 kills and digs in a career. Sullivan ranks third all-time in both digs and kills in Wildcat history.

Named an All-American and all-Big 12 as a senior, Sullivan captained the 1999 Wildcat squad, which made the school’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance en route to Kansas College Female-Athlete-of-the-Year honors in 2000. Sullivan also earned first-team academic all-Big 12 distinction in each of her four seasons at KSU. Following graduation, Sullivan played professionally for the Grand Rapids Force of the United States Professional Volleyball League.

Sullivan and her husband, Josh, have three daughters, Katie, Sarah and Emily and one son, Matthew.

Assistant Coach Trudy Vande Berg

Trudy Vande Berg is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Cyclones after spending the previous four seasons in the same capacity at Duke.

In addition to her responsibilities as recruiting coordinator, Vande Berg will assist in coaching middle blockers for the Cyclones.

In her four years on the Durham, N.C. campus, Vande Berg helped the Blue Devils reach the NCAA Tournament each year while capturing Atlantic Coast Conference titles in 2006 and 2008. Duke advanced to the second round all four seasons.

At Duke, Vande Berg oversaw the training of 11 All-ACC players, including two ACC Player of the Year recipients. She was responsible for all facets of recruiting where she helped the Blue Devils corral the 26th-ranked recruiting class in the country in 2008.

Prior to her stint at Duke, Vande Berg served as a volunteer assistant with ISU head coach Christy Johnson at Wisconsin. Vande Berg assisted Johnson in training the middle blockers and setters.

A former All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference performer at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Vande Berg worked for two seasons as the first assistant at North Florida, where she helped produce a Division II All-American and assisted in all aspects of the nationally-ranked program.

Vande Berg has also spent time on the club circuit, working with Team Florida High Performance as well as stints with the Milwaukee Chapter of Starlings, a volleyball club for underprivileged student-athletes. She also coached for Sky High-Milwaukee.

Vande Berg played four years at UW-Milwaukee for head coach Kathy Litzau from 1994-97, setting school records for blocks in a match and career blocks. A first team all-league player, Vande Berg currently ranks in the top-10 for career kills, aces and digs for the Panthers.

Vande Berg earned her bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1999.

Volunteer Assistant Coach Joe Lynch

Joe Lynch, head coach Christy Johnson’s first hire, is in his fifth year with Iowa State and first as a volunteer coach after serving as an assistant the past four seasons. Lynch’s primary responsibility is defensive training.

In Lynch’s first four years, ISU established itself as one of the top defensive programs in the Big 12, posting the top four blocking seasons in school history and landing two conference dig leaders in Katie Churm (2005) and Ashley Mass (2008). In the three years since the awards inception, ISU has captured a Big 12 best eight defensive player of the week honors.

In 2008, Ashley Mass was named Big 12 Libero of the Year after leading the conference with 5.01 digs per set. Jen Malcom finished sixth in the league averaging 1.07 blocks per set.

ISU's opponents have hit under .200 in each of the last three seasons, including a .197 hitting percentage in 2008 that ranked fourth in the Big 12.

The Cyclones have recorded the top-four block assist seasons since Lynch arrived in Ames, racking up an impressive 662 block assists in 2007. That year, ISU averaged 3.28 blocks per game to finish ninth in the country.

In 2006, Iowa State ranked 12th in the country, averaging 3.30 blocks. Erin Boeve was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and Churm became just the third player in school history to record 400+ digs in back-to-back seasons.

Lynch came to the Cyclones as one of the most highly experienced club and prep coaches in the Midwest. The Wauwatosa, Wis., native had spent his career on the sidelines at the prep and club level, building some of the most successful high school and club teams in the state of Wisconsin following his successful playing career. His efforts have earned him national accolades as one of the most highly respected prep coaches.

One of the most dramatic changes on the volleyball scene over the past decade has been the explosive growth of club volleyball teams throughout the Midwest and the entire nation. Having served so long at the prep and club level, Lynch brought a wealth of knowledge, a tradition of achievement and a tremendous network of contacts to ISU’s program.

Lynch affirmed his ability as a coach at the junior level and cemented his reputation as one of the finest prep coaches in the nation in 2005, when he was honored as the AVCA Prep Coach of the Year. His efforts brought national recognition to the ISU staff early in its tenure.

Lynch is an accomplished coach and player with over 25 seasons as head coach of several prominent high school and club teams in Wisconsin. He has two state titles and eight conference crowns as a head coach and has earned several honors as a player.

A 1998 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Lynch earned a degree in education. At UW-Milwaukee, Lynch competed on the men’s volleyball team, starting three seasons and serving as team captain for two of those campaigns. He was a second-team all-conference performer in 1993.

Lynch was a member of a USVBA men’s team from 1994 to 2002 and earned a spot on the USVBA All-Rookie team in 1994, earning second team All-America honors that season. He led his team to a fourth-place finish in 1997 and seventh-place distinction in 1994.

During his playing days, Lynch also embarked on a successful coaching career. He worked at a number of summer camps prior to becoming the head volleyball coach at Milwaukee-St. Joan Antida High School in 1990. In 1991, Lynch took the top job at Wauwatosa East in his hometown and promptly led the Red Raiders to eight conference crowns, four runner-up finishes at the Wisconsin state tournament and state championships in 1992 and 1994.

Lynch also served as an assistant at his alma mater in 1996 and as the head coach of the Milwaukee Sting volleyball club beginning in 1990. The Sting captured a national championship in 2004 in the 16-year old division, while earning five other top-three finishes in both the 16- and 18-year old group competitions. Lynch has also served as a member of the Board of Directors and as camp director for the Sting.

Lynch is the husband of ISU head coach Christy Johnson. The couple resides in Ames and has one son, Jamison.