FSU's Tia Brandel-Wilhelm Named GLIAC Coach Of The Year
November 15, 2002
Ferris State University women's volleyball head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm has been named the 2002 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year for the second time in an announcement made by the league office.
The award was announced in conjunction with the 2002 GLIAC Tournament on Thursday (Nov. 14) at Grand Valley State's Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale, Mich.
Brandel-Wilhelm, who is in her seventh season at the helm, guided the Bulldogs to a national top 25 ranking and the school's fifth consecutive 20-win campaign (24-6) this season prior to suffering a quarterfinal-round league tournament loss to Gannon. She previously was named GLIAC Coach of the Year in 1998 after leading FSU to a 25-10 overall mark.
A 1990 Alma graduate, Brandel-Wilhelm ranks second among Ferris' all-time coaching victory leaders with a 268-94 (.740) career mark. She entered the season ranked 11th among NCAA-II's winningest active coaches and led Ferris to a NCAA-II National Tournament appearance in 1999.
FSU garnered its fifth consecutive GLIAC Tournament berth under Brandel-Wilhelm this season while Ferris' 15-3 league record represented its best conference mark since posting a 16-0 GLIAC record in 1990. The 2002 campaign marks the second consecutive season and third time in the last five years the Bulldogs have finished second in the GLIAC's North Division.
Brandel-Wilhelm previously spent three seasons as head coach at West Virginia Wesleyan (1993-95) in Buckhannon, W.Va., where she led the Bobcats to a fifth-place finish at the 1995 NCAA-II Championships.
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