Steve Loeswick Season 2022
Steve Loeswick moves into his fifth season as an assistant coach on the LSU volleyball staff. Loeswick’s main duties with the Tigers include setter training, film and opponent breakdown along with lead beach coach responsibilities during the spring season.
Loeswick has been a key component as LSU has won four consecutive SEC Western Division titles sparked by the 2009 SEC overall championship, the program’s first since 1991. The Tigers also have accumulated 93 victories and are one of 25 programs nationally to put together four straight NCAA Tournament appearances fueled by a trio of 25-win campaigns in 2007, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
A former setter, Loeswick developed Brittney Johnson into an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-South Region Honorable Mention performer in 2010. The Tigers started the season with a program-best 13-0 record. LSU’s offense boasted 14.35 kills per set on a .260 team hitting percentage which not only ranked among the SEC’s best, but the NCAA’s Top 25 in both categories.
Loeswick also molded transfer Sam Dabbs into a 2009 All-SEC First-Team selection and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention recipient. She passed out 2,089 assists during her two-year career to join LSU’s setting legacy of former All-Americans Daniela Reis (1991 & 1992) and Daniela Romero (2006).
After the Tigers defeated No. 6 Florida for the first time since 1991, Dabbs was the first player in program history to be selected AVCA National Player of the Week on October 13, 2009. Between Dabbs and Johnson, the Tigers have checked in among the NCAA’s Top 30 in assists per set, hitting percentage and kills per set during each of the last two seasons.
LSU’s offense was retooled under Loeswick in 2007 after the graduation of Romero. The Tigers used the setting tandem of Johnson and Maggie Lonergan to distribute 1,587 assists. LSU raced out to a 15-2 start and emerged with a five-set triumph of No. 14 New Mexico State in NCAA Opening Round.
During his tenure at LSU, the quartet of Brittnee Cooper, Lauren DeGirolamo, Marina Skender and Kyna Washington have eclipsed the 1,000-kill plateau. Skender is one of only five players to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
The Tigers have racked up a bounty of awards and featured at least two players on the AVCA All-South Region First Team during three of his first four seasons.
LSU has notched 11 All-SEC selections since 2007 highlighted by Cooper’s 2009 SEC Player of the Year, Desiree Elliott‘s 2010 SEC Freshman of the Year and Elena Martinez’s 2007 & 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award.
Loeswick guided LSU to its first beach championship as all four Tiger squads made the gold bracket playoff on the sands of Siesta Key, Fla. in April 2010. He also represented LSU on the national stage as an assistant coach of the USA National A2 Red Team and received a bronze medal for his efforts at the 2010 USA Adult Open Volleyball Championships.
Prior to his arrival at LSU, Loeswick spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 2004-06. As a member of 2006 AVCA Central Regional Coach of the Year Santiago Restrepo’s staff, Loeswick aided the Sooners record turnaround in 2006 highlighted by a 28-6 record and a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. The 28 victories and .824 winning percentage were school records, while the 15 more league wins marked the best one-year turnaround in Big 12 history.
OU finished the 2006 season ranked No. 12 in the AVCA poll, its highest ranking in program history as Elaine Santos and Joanna Schmitt notched All-America honors. Santos also tallied Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, while Anna Monsen picked up Big 12 Libero of the Year.
Prior to Oklahoma, Loeswick served as an assistant coach for six seasons at Cornell. During his tenure, the Big Red racked up a 93-38 record and 16 All-Ivy League selections, including 2000 Player of the Year Robin Moore. Cornell posted a top three finish in the Ivy League standings during three of Loeswick’s final four seasons, including a 21-4 mark and a second-place finish in 2003.
Loeswick began his coaching career in 1997 where he was an assistant coach for the Martinus Club, a professional women’s club in Holland, for one season. He entered coaching after a year of playing in Germany’s top professional volleyball league.
A four-year starting setter for the University of Southern California, Loeswick was just the third Trojan to start in a single position for all four seasons. 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.
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.
The Loeswick’s have two daughters, Isabella Rose (4) and Lillian Ann (2). The family lives in Baton Rouge.
The Loeswick File
Name: Steve Loeswick
Wife: Jennifer
Daughters: Isabella Rose, Lillian Ann
Birthday: June 10, 1974
Hometown: North Tonawanda, N.Y.
Alma Mater: Southern California, Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science (1996)
Coaching Experience
LSU Assistant Coach (2007-present)
Oklahoma Assistant Coach (2004-2006)
Cornell Assistant Coach (1998-2003)
Martinus Club – Holland (1997)
Playing Experience
Southern California (1993-1996)
German Pro League (1997)