Brandt

Chris Brandt

Chris Brandt enters his fourth season as head men's volleyball coach at Lakeland College.

Brandt has overseen the transition of Lakeland’s men’s volleyball program to the NCAA Division III varsity level after participating on the club level for 17 years. In his first two years with the varsity he has a 35-25 record, including a 14-17 record last year. The Muskies finished fifth in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League, defeated four nationally ranked teams during the season and had an NCAA All-American for the second straight season in libero Cole Aiazzi.

In 2014 in his second year at Lakeland and the program’s first year as a varsity program, the Muskies went 21-8 overall and placed second in the Continental Volleyball Conference West Division with an 8-2 mark. Lakeland was an immediate national contender in Division III, ranking as high as fifth nationally at one point and sitting in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll for nine consecutive weeks. The Muskies registered a win over No. 1 ranked Juniata (Pa.) early in the season and posted three wins over nationally ranked teams. Lakeland also finished with an AVCA Second Team All-American in Alec Redlich, and 11 Muskies were named to the CVC Academic All-Conference Team.

The 2012-13 season was Brandt’s first year and the team’s final season as a club program. Lakeland finished with a 28-19 record, won the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference Tournament championship, and participated in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Championships.

A native of Darien, Ill., with Division III playing and NAIA coaching experience, Brandt came to Lakeland after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Robert Morris University in Chicago for two seasons. In his two years he helped the Eagles to a 44-29 record, their first-ever conference championship, and an NAIA tournament bid.

As a player, Brandt was a four-year starting setter at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He helped the Raiders to the 2010 Midwest-III Conference Championship. Brandt also was a member of the MSOE squad that defeated its first top-10 team in 2009. In 2010, he also set the school record for assists in a match with 66. Brandt closed out his Raider career with 3,925 assists, which ranks first in MSOE history.

Brandt was a three-time Midwest-III Conference selection and a two-time academic all-conference award winner. He was also 2010 Midwest-III Most Valuable Player and in 2009 received AVCA Player of the Week honors. He was selected as MSOE Athlete of the Year in 2010 and was the team MVP three times.

Brandt graduated from MSOE in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business marketing. He received a master's in business administration from Robert Morris in 2012. He also has received the AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award.