By: Justin DeWeese
GOSHEN, Ind. - Interim athletic director Chad Coleman announced that men's volleyball head coach Jeff Phillips is stepping down from the role, and associate head coach and alum
Wyatt Bollinger will be the next head coach for the program, effective immediately. Phillips will remain as the head coach of the women's volleyball team.
"I'm thrilled to announce
Wyatt Bollinger as our new head coach for the men's volleyball program," said Coleman. "As a former player and assistant coach at Goshen College, Wyatt brings a deep understanding of what it means to be a Maple Leaf. Over the past two years, he's grown tremendously under the mentorship of coach Jeff Phillips. I'm grateful to Jeff for his continued leadership with our women's program and am excited to see Wyatt step into this opportunity."
"The chance to continue growing alongside this program is a dream come true," Bollinger shared. "I learn just as much as our student-athletes in this role, and I'm thrilled to continue helping men's volleyball, athletics, and the Goshen College community grow and thrive."
Bollinger hails from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and played at Eastern Mennonite University from 2018-2022 before transferring to Goshen as a setter. While with the Maple Leafs, Bollinger surpassed 1,000 career collegiate assists and finished with 733 assists in his one season at Goshen. He holds the program record for assists per set at 9.28 and is in the top ten in the record book for assists, serve efficiency and aces per set.
"I feel very confident that this decision sets up both programs for long-term success," said Jeff Phillips. He noted how serving both programs as head coach made it so that he was never out of season, which was also difficult on his family. "Both teams will have a coaching staff solely focused and driven to recruit, train and manage one team. Goshen volleyball is in a good place moving forward."
The men's volleyball program just completed its seventh season as an official team at Goshen College. Although there have been many head coaches, the program has found its share of success and has a record of 84-93. "I hope to bring consistency in a somewhat chaotic process," said Bollinger. "Getting the chance to grow as a player, as an assistant coach, and now as a head coach feels like a natural progression that I hope will give this team some steadiness and calm in knowing what to expect."
Bollinger joins Rustin Nyce (men's and women's cross country/track and field), Brad Stoltzfus (baseball) and Tyra Carver (women's basketball) as current Goshen head coaches who are alums of the programs they are coaching. "Apart from the plethora of talent on this current squad," Bollinger added, "growth mentality and the openness to build bridges in the program will be our biggest ally."