BATON ROUGE — Former Southern California setter Steve Loeswick, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma, has been named to the Tiger volleyball staff as an assistant coach, it was announced by head coach Fran Flory on Wednesday.
“We are definitely thrilled to have Steve join our program,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “He brings a very high level of knowledge in all the areas we need. We are excited about him taking over the setter training. He will also be involved in match preparation and video breakdown as well as other things we need.”
Loeswick spent three seasons with the Sooners, where he helped the Oklahoma program to a record turnaround, while leading the Sooners to the 2006 NCAA Sweet 16. On the court, he was in charge of training the setters, while off the court, he coordinated recruiting, scouting and match preparation.
As part of Sooner head coach and 2006 AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year Santiago Restrepo’s staff last season, Loeswick guided Oklahoma to a 28-6 overall record and 17-3 mark in the Big 12, good enough for a second place finish. The Sooners recorded school records for wins and winning percentage, and recorded the best one-year turnaround in Big 12 history with 15 more league victories than 2005.
Oklahoma advanced to the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in school history and knocked off Oral Roberts and Missouri State before falling to UCLA in only the Sooner’s second appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. Earning its first national ranking in 18 years, Oklahoma finished the season ranked No. 12 in the AVCA poll, the Sooners’ highest ranking in school history.
“Steve is coming from an Oklahoma program has enjoyed a climb similar to LSU’s over the last three years to become highly successful. We are lucky to be able to bring in a coach like him because it’s not very often that you can attract a person from a program like that,” said Flory. “He will be able to add a new perspective and bring in some fresh thoughts for our program.”
In addition, he coached Eliane Santos and Joanna Schmitt to All-America honors a year ago as Santos was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Anna Monsen was the Big 12 Libero of the Year. Oklahoma setter Rachel Jackson also earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.
Loeswick helped the Sooner setters improve each season on the Oklahoma staff. Most of the assist marks in the rally scoring system were held by setters under his tutelage. In addition, the Sooners ranked third in the Big 12 in assists per game and third in hitting percentage, as Jackson ranked second in the conference in individual assists per game.
Prior to joining the Oklahoma staff, Loeswick served as an assistant coach at Cornell for six seasons from 1998-2003, restoring the Big Red program to prominence with a career record of 93-38. His final year in Ithaca, he led Cornell to a second place finish in the Ivy League with a record of 21-4. During his tenure, he helped develop 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year Robin Moore and 16 All-Ivy League selections.
Loeswick began his coaching career in Holland in 1997 where he was an assistant coach for the Martinus Club, a professional women’s club, for one season. He began his coaching career after a year playing in Germany’s top professional volleyball league.
The former four-year starting setter for the University of Southern California, he was just the third Trojan player to start in a single position for all four years. As a freshman, he ranked 10th nationally with 15.86 assists per game before earning 1993 Volleyball Monthly All-Freshman team honors and being named to the 1996 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic Team.
“I think he’s a very bright, young, enthusiastic coach,” said Flory. “His playing experience internationally and certainly collegiately in the United States is going to add a new twist to what we do here. We’re excited to have him.”
In 1993 and 1994, Loeswick participated in the U.S. Olympic Festival, serving as the captain of the squad that captured the silver medal. A Volleyball Monthly Fabulous 50 Prep as a senior in high school in 1992, he also won a gold medal at the 1991 Empire State Games. In addition, he was a member of the U.S. Junior Elite team twice and played for the Rochester Pace Bootlegger club team, where he earned AAU All-America honors.
In 1996, Loeswick earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from USC. A native of North Tonawanda, N.Y., he married the former Jennifer Arbuckle on June 17, 2006. Jennifer, a standout outside hitter at Virginia Tech from 1992-1995, served as Oklahoma director of volleyball operations for several years. Steve and Jennifer are expecting their first child in late April.
Loeswick replaces John Blackwell, who left LSU to take a job outside of collegiate volleyball. Blackwell was with the Tigers for two seasons.