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

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.

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.

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.