By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Brad Keenan had no expectations when he became the Sun Devils beach volleyball coach one year ago this month.
"I really hadn't seen much of the other teams so I really had no idea going in," said Keenan, who served as a graduate assistant coach at Concordia University in Irvine, California before coming to ASU. "I knew we had some great players with Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette, but I had no idea what else was out there."
One season into his coaching tenure, Keenan is feeling optimistic about the future. The Sun Devils just concluded the most successful season in their history, posting a program-best 16 wins while defeating five ranked teams including No. 6 Arizona in Tucson. The Devils also cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) collegiate poll for the first time.
Three freshmen (Katelyn Carballo, Ellyson Lundberg and Sage Patchell) and three sophomores (Natalie Braun, Katie Cross and Bethany Wedepohl) played a vital role in the team's success. Their growth buoys Keenan's hopes despite the losses of Arellano and Follette to graduation.
"We've got a good group of young kids -- freshmen and sophomores who really played well late in the season," he said.
Carballo (5-foot-9) and Lundberg (5-11) teamed up on April 1 at the Surf and Turf Invitational in Miami. From that point, they compiled a 9-6 record as a pair.
"They have the same mindset," Keenan said. "They both want to win and they fight and fight and fight to do it. They won some big matches super late in the third set just by never quitting. I think they are going to be big for us for a while."
Keenan also saw enormous growth from Cross, a 5-11 sophomore transfer from South Carolina, who benefited from a unique drill employed by assistant coach Ryan Wrublik.
"She was having real trouble with her timing and hitting balls inbounds so we started this drill called 'awkward hitting' where we throw balls in from anywhere on the court and she just figured it out," Keenan said. "Her timing was great and she was hammering balls the rest of season. She's super athletic so she has a huge upside."
Keenan was a four-time AVCA All-American and two-time National Player of the Year at Pepperdine. He spent nearly a decade on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour and was named the 2006 AVP Rookie of the Year. He had been hoping to land a beach-coaching job after earning his master's in exercise and sports science at Concordia, but given the scarcity of programs in the nation, he was pursuing indoor jobs when the ASU position became available.
Keenan was sold after his interview and tour.
"I just saw that the administration was really behind the program and they really wanted to grow it," he said. "The PERA club where we play, that facility is incredible and they have the resources behind us. The fact that it is fully funded says a lot. Not a whole lot of programs are fully funded."
Keenan admits he learned some things in his first year as a head coach that he will apply moving forward.
"Training-wise, I'll make some adjustments," he said. "We may have played too much early in the season instead of focusing on more skill sets. We did that the last few weeks and we played really well in our matches because of it."
Keenan did not recruit the incoming freshman for next season's team, but he will hit the recruiting road starting at the end of this month, with a couple stops planned in Texas, a couple in California, including some big July tournaments, a stop in Florida and a complete canvassing of Arizona prospects.
"I'm pretty much focused on 2019 and 2020 kids to build for that future," he said. "There are actually four or five kids here already with good skills and potential. We do have some talent. We just have to figure out their head space a little bit. They are great in practice but sometimes they went a little sideways in games so we'll see what we can develop."
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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Brad Keenan had no expectations when he became the Sun Devils beach volleyball coach one year ago this month.
"I really hadn't seen much of the other teams so I really had no idea going in," said Keenan, who served as a graduate assistant coach at Concordia University in Irvine, California before coming to ASU. "I knew we had some great players with Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette, but I had no idea what else was out there."
One season into his coaching tenure, Keenan is feeling optimistic about the future. The Sun Devils just concluded the most successful season in their history, posting a program-best 16 wins while defeating five ranked teams including No. 6 Arizona in Tucson. The Devils also cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) collegiate poll for the first time.
Three freshmen (Katelyn Carballo, Ellyson Lundberg and Sage Patchell) and three sophomores (Natalie Braun, Katie Cross and Bethany Wedepohl) played a vital role in the team's success. Their growth buoys Keenan's hopes despite the losses of Arellano and Follette to graduation.
"We've got a good group of young kids -- freshmen and sophomores who really played well late in the season," he said.
Carballo (5-foot-9) and Lundberg (5-11) teamed up on April 1 at the Surf and Turf Invitational in Miami. From that point, they compiled a 9-6 record as a pair.
"They have the same mindset," Keenan said. "They both want to win and they fight and fight and fight to do it. They won some big matches super late in the third set just by never quitting. I think they are going to be big for us for a while."
Keenan also saw enormous growth from Cross, a 5-11 sophomore transfer from South Carolina, who benefited from a unique drill employed by assistant coach Ryan Wrublik.
"She was having real trouble with her timing and hitting balls inbounds so we started this drill called 'awkward hitting' where we throw balls in from anywhere on the court and she just figured it out," Keenan said. "Her timing was great and she was hammering balls the rest of season. She's super athletic so she has a huge upside."
Keenan was a four-time AVCA All-American and two-time National Player of the Year at Pepperdine. He spent nearly a decade on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour and was named the 2006 AVP Rookie of the Year. He had been hoping to land a beach-coaching job after earning his master's in exercise and sports science at Concordia, but given the scarcity of programs in the nation, he was pursuing indoor jobs when the ASU position became available.
Keenan was sold after his interview and tour.
"I just saw that the administration was really behind the program and they really wanted to grow it," he said. "The PERA club where we play, that facility is incredible and they have the resources behind us. The fact that it is fully funded says a lot. Not a whole lot of programs are fully funded."
Keenan admits he learned some things in his first year as a head coach that he will apply moving forward.
"Training-wise, I'll make some adjustments," he said. "We may have played too much early in the season instead of focusing on more skill sets. We did that the last few weeks and we played really well in our matches because of it."
Keenan did not recruit the incoming freshman for next season's team, but he will hit the recruiting road starting at the end of this month, with a couple stops planned in Texas, a couple in California, including some big July tournaments, a stop in Florida and a complete canvassing of Arizona prospects.
"I'm pretty much focused on 2019 and 2020 kids to build for that future," he said. "There are actually four or five kids here already with good skills and potential. We do have some talent. We just have to figure out their head space a little bit. They are great in practice but sometimes they went a little sideways in games so we'll see what we can develop."
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