Christopher Brandt enters his first season as head men's volleyball coach.
An Illinois native with Division III playing and NAIA coaching experience, Brandt comes to Lakeland after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Robert Morris University (Ill.) the past two seasons. He helped the Eagles to a 44-29 record, their first-ever conference championship and NAIA tournament bid. The program had one All-American Honorable Mention and two All-Region players.
The Darien, Ill., native was also the head coach of the Chicago Hits volleyball team. He amassed a 26-8 record in two years, while also finishing in the top five twice at the Nation Senior Olympic games.
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. MSOE defeated its first top-10 team in 2009, with Brandt leading the way. 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 is 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 takes over a young Lakeland team that struggled through inconsistent play and finished 22-24 overall, 6-7 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference. The program has made four national title appearances, including a national championship in 2008, and won four WVC championships, while finishing second numerous times.
Brandt graduated from MSOE in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business marketing. He earned a master's in business administration from Robert Morris University in 2012.
