Michigan State University Volleyball

Former Michigan State volleyball standout Kristen Kelsay was named the eighth head volleyball coach in program history on Dec. 22, 2024. She enters her secon...

Casey Akenberger is in her seventh year as a full-time strength coach at Michigan State. Akenberger was promoted to Director of Athletic Performance in July 2023 and continues to work directly with volleyball, softball and men's golf. Akenberger began her career at Michigan State in 2018 as a professional intern before being elevated to an assistant coach in 2019. Since 2021 she's had direct responsibility for volleyball, softball and men's golf and developed the athletic performance internship program implemented in 2022. Previously she worked with women's soccer and the women's swimming & diving programs. Prior to her arrival at MSU, Akenberger was a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois in charge of volleyball, women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, and men's and women's tennis. The Bowling Green, Ohio native earned a Master's in Sports Administration (2018) from Eastern Illinois and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology (2016) at Jacksonville State University. A four-year NCAA Division I softball pitcher at Jacksonville State University (2013-2016), Akenberger was part of three Ohio Valley Conference championships, two NCAA regional appearances and a record undefeated season of 25-0 in 2016. Akenberger is certified by Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA), National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), Titleist Performance Institute (Level 1), Reflexive Performance Reset (Levels 1 and 2), Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200), FRC and FR

Cursty Jackson enters her second season as an assistant coach for Michigan State volleyball in 2026. She joined Kristen Kelsay's staff in 2025. In her first ...

Dan O'Keefe enters his second season on staff at Michigan State in 2026. O'Keefe was hired on January 12, 2025 ahead of the spring volleyball season. In his ...

Dr. Bill Burghardt, who is in his 14th year on the full-time staff at MSU, was named the Director of Sports Science for Michigan State Athletics in July 2022. He previously was the Director of Football Sports Science for two years (2020-21). In his role, Burghardt leads the sports science department’s mission to aid sport coaches, strength & conditioning, and sports medicine to optimize athlete training, performance, and return-to-sport through the use of cutting-edge technology and exercise science. Prior to his current role in sports science, Burghardt was on the strength and conditioning staff for the Spartans and was named associate strength and conditioning coach in June 2018. He also added the duties of football analytics coordinator in 2018, a role that includes collecting, analyzing, interpreting and disseminating results of the Cataplult GPS data for the staff, and moved into that role full-time in 2020 as the Director of Football Sport Science. Burghardt, who spent two seasons (2010-11) as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant at Michigan State, rejoined the Spartan program in July 2012. He has been a part of two Big Ten Championship teams and eight bowl games since being appointed to the full-time staff. Burghardt came back to East Lansing following a six-month stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Burghardt is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with the Collegiate

Sports medicine fellowship-trained, board-certified primary care physician, Jill Moschelli MD, MBA, CAQSM, FACSM, FAAFP, provides care at MSU Health Care Sports Medicine, and MSU Athletics as an official team physician of the MSU student-athletes. Dr. Moschelli additionally serves as an assistant professor of orthopedics through Michigan State University's Colleges of Human & Osteopathic Medicine and program director for the MSU Sports Medicine Fellowship.

Juan Moreno is in his 11th year working at Michigan State as an equipment manager. Moreno spent five seasons (2015-19) with the football program, including serving as the head football equipment manager in 2019, before returning to work with teams in Jenison Field House in 2020. Moreno, who has been an equipment manager at MSU since 2010, primarily worked with the baseball, field hockey and volleyball teams before moving to football. Before arriving at Michigan State, Moreno was an equipment manager at Georgetown University, and also held intern positions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers. Moreno graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish in 2008. He is married to Sarah Moreno, who is from Appleton, Wisconsin. They have a 3-year-old daughter, Mila.

Julee Burgess serves on the athletic department's executive leadership team as Executive Senior Associate AD for Sport Administration. Prior to her current promotion in April 2024, Burgess was promoted to Associate Athletic Director in July 2021 after adding the title of Director of Sport Administration/Sport Internal Relations earlier in the year in January. Burgess joined MSU Athletics in 2007 and has worked in various roles including the ticket office, business office, sport administration, Varsity S Club and alumni relations. She previously was appointed Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Administration and Alumni Relations in January 2019. Burgess leads, directs and coordinates the efforts of the sport administration team, and is the sport supervisor for multiple programs including: women's basketball, volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's tennis, women's tennis, and field hockey. She also provides support to the MSU cheer team as a sport administrator. In addition, Burgess is responsible for coordinating the operations for MSU's Olympic sports, which includes being the liaison to the business office, compliance and human resources. As the lead of the sport administration team, Burgess is responsible for postseason travel coordination, student-athlete surveys, and implementation of the senior exit interviews. Burgess also assists with planning of special projects for the department and previously coordinated the Celebrate Weekend events i

Four-year Spartan letterwinner Julia Bishop joined the MSU volleyball staff as a graduate assistant in 2025. Bishop, a setter at MSU from 2021-24, finished her career as one of just five three-time captains in program history. In four seasons, she logged 1,761 assists, 572 digs, 131 kills and 56 service aces. In October 2024, Bishop was named one of 18 recipients of the American Volleyball Association (AVCA) Coaches 4 Coaches Scholarship, awarded to young coaches and recent college graduates who have interest in coaching volleyball. She was the only active undergraduate student-athlete to earn the scholarship in 2024. The Dearborn, Michigan, native is the owner of Zone1 Volleyball Training, where she attends and coaches interscholastic volleyball camps throughout the state of Michigan. Bishop graduated from MSU with a degree in computational data science in 2025. She is a three-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honoree, three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and 2023 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

Kristin Jakus is in her third year with Michigan State Athletics and her second as the team dietitian for the men's and women's basketball programs. Jakus came to East Lansing in September 2021 as a Performance Nutrition Basketball Fellow and took over in a full-time role in July 2022. Prior to her arrival at MSU, Jakus worked with the men's and women's basketball teams at the University of Arkansas from 2018-21. In addition, she worked with the women's volleyball and men's and women's golf teams. Jakus has experience in the NBA as well, working with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2017-18 season in the Sports Nutrition Immersion Program (SNIP). While there, she also worked with the team's G-League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. A native of Colorado Springs, Colo., Jakus earned a bachelor of science in dietetics from the University of Northern Colorado in 2014 and went on to earn a masters of nutrition, with a concentration in sports nutrition, from the University of Utah in 2016. In 2019, Jakus was recognized as a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Nutrition.

Matt Jackson joined the MSU volleyball staff as an assistant coach in June 2025. He enters his second season at MSU in 2026. In 2025, his first season as a c...

Rachel Schneider is entering her second season as technical coordinator for Michigan State volleyball in 2026. Schneider arrived in East Lansing after one season as the program coordinator at Wake Forest where she managed all day-to-day operations for the Demon Deacons. A 2024 graduate of University of Toledo, Schneider supervised and trained student managers, tracked and analyzed team statistics using VolleyStation, synced film for review by student-athletes in Volleymetrics, designed spreadsheets for in-match statistics, tracked players' statistical performances and created team travel itineraries. While at Toledo, Schneider was head student manager of the volleyball program from 2020-24 and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences while earning valedictorian status in her graduating class.

Shane Wilkinson joined the Spartan volleyball staff in the spring of 2021 as its Director of Operations. He begins his 21st overall season in this role and s...

Ynhi Le is entering her second season as creative media specialist for Michigan State volleyball in 2026. Before arriving in East Lansing, Le worked as the social media coordinator of Volleyball Club Nebraska from 2021-25 and is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Le is proficient in photo, video and graphic design while managing all of VCN's social platforms. In addition to her work with VCN, Le worked as a freelancer with the Omaha Supernovas and the University of Minnesota volleyball program. Since joining VCN, Le's social content generated over 2,900,000 views and 341,584 likes.