Most Keene State College volleyball fans would think that Bob Weiner would be crazy to say that any team other than the 2008 squad that won the programs first ever Little East Conference championship and berth into the NCAA tournament would be his favorite. But last season the seventh year head coach said it might have been. "2010 was some of the best times I have ever had coaching volleyball," said Weiner. "It is not just because we won our first ECAC Championship in program history, but we had great chemistry, we had great leadership and best of all everyone just got better."

Riding the highs of the volleyball programs first ever postseason tournament victory and finishing the season with a 27-12 record, Weiner returns a class of six seniors, including Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.), Kristen Girard (Red Hook, N.Y.) and Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.) who combined for 1,112 of the teams 1,642 kills last season.

The Owls also look to continue their dominance in Spaulding Gymnasium, especially with the brand new floor and bleachers that make the KSC home one of the finest venues in New England. Under Weiner's direction, the Owls have posted an impressive 45-9 record on their home floor, and hope to add to that sterling record in 2011.

Resurrecting the Owl program, Weiner has already led the team into uncharted territory in his four-year tenure. Directing the Owls to a first-ever appearance in the 2005 LEC championship match, he then coached KSC to back-to-back, 25-victory seasons and ECAC tournament ap­pearances as well as a first-ever LEC regular season title in 2007. Weiner and the Owls served up an unforgettable 2008 season, posting a program best 29-9 (6-0 LEC) and capturing the LEC title and NCAA berth. 

Weiner, who  record at Keene State stands at  141-76 (.649 winning pct.) , including an impressive 31-9 conference mark, is the only volleyball coach in Keene State history to have a winning percentage over .550. "This is a great place to coach," said Weiner. "Once we started to build the program and win, athletes wanted to come here and play."

Set to begin his 24th season of collegiate coaching, Weiner, who has an overall career record of 382-344, came to Keene State after serving as the sports information director at Pine Manor College. He held the position of head women's volleyball coach at Iona (N.Y.) College, As­sumption College, Montana State-Northern University, Macalester (Minn.) Col­lege, and Franklin Pierce College. During his four-year stint at Iona, his teams compiled a 74-51 record. He was named the 2002 Metro Atlantic Coach of the Year after leading the Gaels to a first-place finish in the conference. At Macal­ester, Weiner turned around a team, playing in the highly competitive Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference.  As the first varsity coach at Franklin Pierce, Weiner led the 1992 and 1993 Ravens to ECAC tournament berths.

Weiner, co-founder of the Hardrock Junior Olympic Volleyball Club in New Hampshire, holds a bachelor's degree in theatre from UCLA and a master's in fine arts from the University of California-Irvine.  In addition to his volleyball duties, he also teaches in the KSC communication department and was named the full-time volleyball coach in the spring of 2011.

Weiner said he’s excited about the change in status and looking forward to giving more time to the program.  “During the past six years, I’ve also taught a full academic load,” he said.  “I was doing a full-time job in addition to my coaching responsibilities.  This will allow me to focus on my job as coach of the Keene State women’s volleyball team and I am excited about that.”

After being a student assistant for two years, Bre Redding begins her second season as assistant coach with the Owls this fall.  Redding, a defensive specialist with the team in 2006 and 2007, will be a valuable asset on the bench and practice court, passing on her knowledge and love of the game to the players. She has also created and implemented the Owls workout programs. 

Looking to coach at the college level, Redding has worked for three years with Coach Weiner and the Hard Rock Club team and last season with the Central Massachusetts Junior Olympic program.

Prior to joining the KSC program, Redding played at Medway (Mass.) High where she was twice named the team's top defender and earned league all-star honors as a senior.

Redding will also be working under Sarah Testo as a Strength and Conditioning coach for Keene State throughout the year.

Kristen Mullins joins the Keene State College volleyball staff for the first time under head coach Bob Weiner in 2010, and for the second stint in her career. Mullins also was an assistant coach for the Owls in 2003 and 2004 under then head coach Matora Fiore.

Before coming back to the Owls program, Mullins was the head coach at Turner Falls High School in Massachusetts from 2005-2009.

In her Owl career, Mullins compiled 527 kills, 171 service aces and 1050 digs.

One of the top high school coaches in New Hampshire, Chuck Roberson enters his seventh season as an Owl assis­tant coach.

A three-time Class I coach of the year, Roberson coached Milford to back-to-back state titles in 2001 and 2002.

It's not the first time Roberson will be working with Coach Weiner. They both helped to form the first junior Olympic program in the state and have served as occasional advisor with each other's team. "Bob and I have a mutual trust that we've developed over the years," he said. "We both have the same defensive and passing philosophy."

Roberson, a Western Connecticut grad, is originally from Greenwich, N.Y.