|
|
COACHING STAFF |
MICHELLE AGGEN | DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS | CAMP DIRECTOR
Aggen will begin her first season as the director of operations in 2023, assisting with team travel, community outreach and facility and camp coordination.
Aggen comes to Iowa State after coaching for five years at Augustana. As an assistant coach, Aggen fulfilled duties of recruiting, travel coordination, alumni relations and serving as the club tournament director and the co-camp director. In addition, she was the lead in offensive and defensive scouting.
In 2022, Aggen received the AVCA Thirty under 30 award, given to up-and-coming coaches.
Aggen is a Jackson, Minnesota native and spent her playing career as a setter at Dakota Wesleyan University, becoming a three-year starter and captain. Aggen ranks third all-time with 3,263 career assists while also totaling 759 digs and 218 kills.
Aggen earned her bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and a minor in coaching from Dakota Wesleyan and her master's in sports administration and leadership from Augustana.
MARC NEEF | ASSISTANT COACH | CAMP DIRECTOR
Marc Neef joined the Iowa State volleyball coaching staff in the role of assistant coach in February 2022 and will begin his first season in the fall. Neef joins the Cyclones after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach at Stony Brook.
In his five seasons with the Seawolves, Neef was crucial in many areas of the program, helping Stony Brook to a pair of NCAA Championships appearances in 2017 and 2018. The 2018 squad went 14-0 in conference play, with Neef and his fellow Stony Brook coaching staff being named the 2018 America East Coaching Staff of the Year. He was the primary trainer of the Seawolves middle blockers and also called the team’s defense, helping hold opponents to .175 hitting across his five seasons on staff.
Prior to Stony Brook, Neef served a variety of roles at UCF, starting out as a volunteer assistant coach in 2015 before moving up to Director of Volleyball Operations and eventually Assistant Coach. Along with customary roles in the DOVO position, Neef was also responsible for scouting and analysis efforts for the Knights via Data Volley.
Neef’s Iowa roots and background come from his time at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, where he was a student who worked as an assistant coach before being elevated to assistant coach upon graduation in Spring 2012, a position he held for three seasons.
Neef also has background as a club volleyball coaching, working for MBS Volleyball Club and Orlando Volleyball Academy in Florida and for Eastern Iowa Xtreme Volleyball in Mount Vernon.
Neef received his Bachelor’s Degrees from Cornell College in Economics and Business and Studio Art in 2012. He got a Master of Business Administration in December 2016 and a Master of Sports Business Management in May 2017, both from UCF.
CIARA JONES | ASSISTANT COACH
Jones enters her first season as an assistant coach in 2023 after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma.
At Oklahoma, Jones was integral in leading the Sooners to a 10-2 non-conference record in 2022, the best mark since 2013. In the same season, OU ranked third in hitting percentage and aces among the conference while three earned All-Big 12 honors.
Prior to Oklahoma, Jones spent four seasons at Howard University. Here she earned the AVCA Thirty under 30 award in 2019 and picked up a spot on the VolleyMag.com 40 Coaching Hotshots list. In the 2019 season, Howard made its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and earned the fifth-consecutive MEAC Championship. Jones also played a contributing role in both recruiting and developing student-athletes.
Jones previously served as the director of operations at Clemson University, handling travel and team logistics, recruiting visit details and managing the team budget. Jones also served as a camp director managing the preparation, schedule coordination and assisting with coaching duties of over 300 campers.
Before her experience at Clemson, Jones served as the Top Select Volleyball Club head coach in Orlando, Fla. for a year and was named Top Select Head Volleyball Coach of the Year. Beginning in 2014, Jones spent three seasons as the head coach at Edgewater High School in Orlando, earning district championships every season. Jones was voted Metro Coach of the Year in 2016. Also from 2014-16, Jones was the event coordinator for the Orlando Health Foundation, assisting with event management and donor relations. From 2012-14, Jones worked for Marquette as the Blue and Gold Fund Assistant.
Jones played for Marquette from 2008-12 where she led the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011. In the same season, Jones was named a Big East First Team All-American. Jones was inducted into the Marquette University Hall of Fame in 2018.
Jones earned her bachelor's degree in broadcast and electronic communications and a master's in leadership studies with a specialization in sports leadership from Marquette.
JOE LYNCH | ASSISTANT COACH
Joe Lynch is in his 19th year with Iowa State and 15th as a volunteer coach after serving as an assistant for four seasons. Lynch's primary responsibilities include the pin hitters and defensive training.
Lynch has been the key to Iowa State’s success at the libero position, with the Cyclones having All-Americans and the Big 12 Libero of the Year in the opposite colored jersey 10 of the last 13 seasons. Marija Popovic became the latest Cyclone to earn Big 12 Libero of the Year in 2021, leading the conference with 4.56 digs per set while recording at least 10 digs in 22 of the 23 matches she played in.
Hali Hillegas continued the ISU tradition in 2017, leading the Big 12 with 5.60 digs per set and earning four Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards. As a freshman under Lynch’s supervision, Hillegas was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors, earned a pair of Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards, and set the ISU freshman record for digs in a match (33) and the second-most digs by a freshman in program history (413).
In 2015, Lynch worked with the ISU middle blockers, and the Cyclone middles had one of its best offensive season’s in program history. Samara West broke ISU’s school record for hitting percentage in a season at .352, while Alexis Conaway was right behind her at .351. The duo combined to average 4.24 kills per set for the Cyclones.
Lynch is the man behind Iowa State’s “Libero U” reputation it has earned. Through working with three-time All-Americans Ashley Mass and Kristen Hahn and two-time All-American Caitlin Nolan, Iowa State has eight Big 12 Libero of the Year awards and 47 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards. His work with Hahn helped her become the first Cyclone to play for the United States Senior National Team.
Mass was a two-time all-American at Iowa State and holds the Big 12 record for career digs with 2,294. Hahn followed a 2011 all-America honorable mention nod with a selection to the All-America second team in 2012 and 2013. Nolan’s 2015 saw her post the highest digs per set in Iowa State and Big 12 history with 5.78 digs per set, ranking fifth in the NCAA.
Iowa State was the only team in 2012 to average better than 17.00 digs per set in league play, tallying 17.53 digs per set, led by Hahn (5.84 digs per set). Hahn was the only Big 12 player with 30 digs in three matches in 2012 and the Cyclone freshmen broke a record with 596 digs, the most by a first-year class.
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.
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 20 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. In the summer of 2015, Lynch was inducted into the Wauwatosa East High School Hall of Fame for his work as a coach.
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 Cyclone head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. The couple resides in Ames and has one son, Jamison, and a daughter, Addison.