Jenny Maurer was named the eighth head coach in Bradley Volleyball history in January 2011 and begins her sixth year on The Hilltop in 2016. Maurer came to Bradley after spending the previous four years as head coach at Lehigh.
In her first five seasons at BU, Maurer has led the Braves to a 42-101 record, which included 34 wins in her first three season for the most victories in a three-year stretch at Bradley since combining for 36 wins between the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons. She owns an 82-172 career coaching mark.
In 2015, freshman Erica Haslag finished with the fourth most kills by a Bradley freshman and four of the top five in kills were underclassmen. In fact, the seniors combined for just 13 percent of the team’s kills, 45 percent of the digs and 21 percent of the blocks. Senior Lea Sack wrapped up her career tied for third in career digs (1,346) and tallied just the fifth 500-dig season in program history. Sack and fellow senior Cordelia Murphy were named honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athletes. Injuries kept active career kills leader Jessie Tulacka and 2013 MVC All-Freshman Team selection Rachel Jones sidelined for the entire campaign.
Youth led the way for the Braves in 2014, with Bradley boasting a pair of freshmen who had eight or more double-doubles for the first time since 1999. Taylor Thiele became the first player to lead the team in kills and aces as a freshman and combined with fellow frosh Jamie Livaudais to give Bradley a pair of freshmen with 200 or more kills for just the second time in program history. In addition, freshman setter Afton Sobasky was the first Bradley freshman to finish a year with 75 kills, 750 assists, 10 aces, 200 digs and 35 or more blocks.
The 2013 campaign saw Bradley post its highest overall (13) and league (7) win totals since finishing the 2005 season with a 16-17 overall mark and sixth-place showing with a 9-9 Valley mark. The Braves tied for sixth in the final 2013 standings and won the tie-breaker with conference newcomer Loyola to advance to the Valley Tournament for the first time since 2005.
That 2013 squad featured one of the more balanced attacks in recent memory with Bradley boasting two individuals with 300 or more kills for the first time since the 2006 season. Amy Angelos wrapped up her career eighth in school history with 1,124 kills and went on to earn Second-Team All-MVC honors as she was the first Brave to earn all-league honors since 2006 when Amber DeBroux was a second-team all-conference pick.
Alise Tupuritis closed out her time on The Hilltop 11th in career kills at Bradley (1,015) and Lauren Zerante concluded a great two-year run at libero after playing outside hitter her first two seasons. Zerante, who ranks fourth in school history with 1,343 career digs, posted the second highest season dig total in BU history (543) and helped the Braves rank second in the Valley in digs per set.
The first Bradley freshman to earn a spot on the Valley’s All-Newcomer Team since Lindsay Stalzer in 2002, Rachel Jones recovered from an injury which forced her out of the first 10 matches of the season to set Bradley’s season mark for hitting percentage. Jones was second in the Valley with a .344 attack percentage and earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman team after ranking fourth on the team in kills per sets and third in blocks.
Maurer has displayed a knack for improving a team's record, leading squads to improved marks in each of her first five seasons and six of eight seasons overall as a collegiate head coach.
The 2012 season saw Bradley post the first 5-0 start to a season in program history. The Braves went on to win three road matches, matching the team's road win total from the previous four years.
Bradley finished with a 7-6 home record in 2011, marking the team's first winning record at home since 2005 and finished one game away from the team's first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance since the 2005 campaign.
During her first year at Bradley, Rachelle Dejean established a new Bradley career digs record, breaking Jenny Pavlas' previous school record of 1,361 digs which had stood since the 1997 season. In addition, freshman setter Madison Kamp turned in the most double-doubles (8) by a BU freshman since Marika Giguere had 14 in 2000. Fellow freshman Courtney Keefe was a two-time MVC Freshman of the Week selection.
A two-time All-America student-athlete at NCAA Division III power Washington University in St. Louis, Maurer enjoyed steady success in her first college coaching position at Lehigh. She inherited a program that was 0-29 in 2006 and had managed only a 9-74 combined record in three years prior to her arrival. During her four years with the Mountain Hawks, Maurer led Lehigh to an improved record in each season, culminating with a 13-13 ledger in 2010. She also coached Lehigh into the four-team Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2003 with a 7-7 conference record in 2009 and she improved her squad's RPI by 130 spots during her four years.
Maurer coached four All-Patriot League players at Lehigh, as well as the 2009 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. Academically, Maurer mentored 12 student-athletes in her first three years who earned a spot on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. Her program also has been active in community service activities and twice was the leading fundraiser, per student-athlete, for the C.O.A.C.H. Adopt-A-Family event at Lehigh.
Prior to entering the college ranks, Maurer was the varsity head coach at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis, where she compiled a 182-63 (.743) record in seven seasons and won five district and sectional championships. After finishing fourth in the 2003 Missouri Class 4 state tournament, St. Joseph's was the state runner-up in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and ranked among the nation's top 100 high school programs in each of her final four years. She coached five all-state performers and sent 13 student-athletes on to college programs at all levels, including two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division I All-American Bridget Fonke.
Maurer began her coaching career at the club level in 2000, directing the Kirkwood (Mo.) Volleyball Club 14U team to four local and regional tournament titles and a top-10 finish at the AAU national championships in her only season with the program. The four tournament titles were the first for the team in its third year together. While at Lehigh, Maurer also worked closely with the Court Authority Volleyball Academy in Bethlehem, Pa., as a coaching consultant.
Maurer earned her bachelor's degree in psychology in 1999 from Washington University, where she played for legendary volleyball coach Teri Clemens, who finished her career with a 529-77 (.873) record. A four-year letterwinner and two-time national champion, Maurer earned first-team All-America honors from the AVCA and Asics/Volleyball Magazine in 1997 and 1998 and she was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team after helping Washington to the 1996 national title. A three-time all-conference and all-region selection, Maurer also was a three-time Division III national player of the week.
Maurer and her husband, Todd, have two children: son Hudson (10) and daughter Chaney (8).