Grand Canyon men's volleyball head coach
Matt Werle was selected as an assistant coach for this year's U.S. Men's Junior National Training Team. Werle will coach for Team USA for the second year in a row, this time coaching future Lopes player
Nolan Flexen.
Last August, Werle coached the U.S. men's volleyball team at the NORCECA (North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Champions Cup, leading the team to a silver medal. He will return to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this August to help head coach Kevin Burnch of Ohio State prepare this year's team for the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup.
Werle continues to add to his impressive coaching resume, which includes being named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's "30 Under 30" in 2018 and VolleyballMag.com's "Under 40 Coaching Hotshots" list this season.
Though this year's GCU season was cut short, the Lopes went 14-7 with wins against three top-10 teams, won eight consecutive matches and earned the highest national ranking in program history at No. 8. Werle also became the winningest coach in GCU men's volleyball history this season with his 69th career win over Benedictine on Jan. 29.
Flexen, an outside hitter from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was one of 20 players selected for the U.S. Men's Junior National Training Team. He signed with the Lopes in November and will play for GCU in 2021 after three years in the Albuquerque Homeschool Sports Association. Flexen was named the No. 8 recruit in the nation on VolleyballMag.com's Boys Fab 50 list in April.
For more updates, follow the Lopes on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_MVolleyball.
To learn more about Werle's experience coaching for team USA last summer, check out Lopes Insider.