Brian Netzler

Brian Netzler is the Women's Head Volleyball Coach at Davenport University.

Leading the Panthers to their best season since making the jump to NCAA Division II (2017-18 academic year) in the fall of 2022, Netzler guided DU (22-9, 13-5 GLIAC) to a third-straight GLIAC Tournament appearance in his fourth year at the helm. Davenport finished the regular season third in the conference, the highest finish since joining the GLIAC (2017). One of the biggest wins of the season came when the Panthers defeated nationally ranked conference foe, No. 19 Michigan Tech on the road in a five-set thriller (26-28, 13-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-9) on Sept. 9. However, the impressive season came to an end as the Panthers were defeated in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals 2-3 (25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 25-12, 12-15) by Grand Valley State University. As for individual honors, Hayley Kreiger was named an All-American for the second consecutive season. Both Kreiger and Kenzy Corstrange were All-Region selections. Four Panthers earned All-GLIAC honors: Kreiger (First Team), Corstange (First Team), Lindsay Taylor (Second Team), and Lexie Beeke (Honorable Mention).
In the fall of 2021, Netzler's third season as the head coach of the Panthers, he led DU (16-12, 7-7 GLIAC) to a second-straight appearance in the GLIAC Tournament for the second time in program history (2017-18). There, the fifth-seeded Panthers knocked off fourth-seeded Grand Valley State in Allendale in the quarterfinals, three sets to one. In that match, DU dropped the first set before winning the next three by two points each, something that had never been done before in program history, regular season or postseason. Facing top-seeded host and 20th-ranked Michigan Tech in the semis, the Panthers won the first set handing the Huskies their first lost set in nearly a month, but came up short in the next three. Individually, DU made it back-to-back seasons with three performers on the All-GLIAC Teams including Hayley Kreiger on the first team (fourth honor in as many seasons and third-straight first-team honor), Kenzy Corstange on the second team and Megan Herr with an honorable mention honor.

In his second season at the helm of Davenport women's volleyball in 2020-21, Netzler led the Panthers back to the GLIAC Tournament as they finished with an overall record of 11-7, including a league mark of 8-6. DU went 3-1 in three days at that league tournament to finish four games above the .500 mark, their most wins above the water mark since the 2014 season. The Panthers once again led the conference in both service aces with 112 and were second to Ferris State in aces per set with 1.67. DU also got it done above the net with 135 total blocks, which was good for second in the league, and 2.01 blocks per set, which was ranked fourth. Individually, three Panthers were named to the All-GLIAC Teams including Hayley Kreiger on the first team (third honor in as many seasons), Riley Groves on the second team and Emmy Webb with an honorable mention nod.

Netzler became the third coach in the program's history in late March of 2019 and his first season at the helm saw the Panthers finish with an overall record of 11-16 (6-10 in GLIAC play) while just missing out on playing in the league's postseason tournament. Davenport finished as the best serving team in the league as it led the conference in total service aces with 173 and aces per set with 1.77. Netzler also coached a pair of all-conference performers in First-Team recipient, Hayley Kreiger, and Honorable Mention honoree, Sami White.

Netzler came to Davenport from Miami University where he'd served as the first assistant coach since March 2017. His primary duties included running of skill specific drills and team drills, scouting of future opponents, creating and managing the operating budget, and in charge of travel administration. He also was the recruiting coordinator for the program.

Prior to working for the Red Hawks, Netzler was the first assistant coach at Austin Peay State University from July 2014-March 2017. Before that, he spent one year as a volunteer assistant coach with the University of Mississippi. His other coaching roles included a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Grand Valley State and one year as the assistant coach at Grand Rapids Community College.

In addition to his college coaching experience, Netzler has coached at Far Out Volleyball Club right here in Grand Rapids for the past three years.

Netzler graduated from Grand Valley State with a bachelor of science in movement science, with an emphasis in coaching. He also minored in history.