Augsburg University Women's Volleyball

April Elsbernd, who has guided the University of Dubuques volleyball program to success over the past 15 seasons, was named the 11th volleyball head coach in Augsburg University program history in the spring of 2024.   In her 15 seasons at the University of Dubuque (Iowa), Elsbernd guided the Spartans to berths in the American Rivers Conference (formerly Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) tournament 11 times in a 12-season span. The Spartans won the ARC regular-season title in 2023, finishing 22-9 overall and 8-0 in league play.   The Spartans earned NCAA Division III national tournament berths in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and finished with 20 or more wins in four of the last six full seasons. Elsbernds 228 wins (228-242 record) are the most in program history. The Spartan coaching staff was named ARC Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2018 and 2023.   Under Elsbernds leadership, University of Dubuque volleyball student-athletes earned 34 All-American Rivers Conference selections, two Rookie of the Year honors, an ARC Most Valuable Player award, and four American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III All-America Honorable Mention and four AVCA All-Region selections. Her teams earned 14 straight AVCA Academic Team awards, and volleyball student-athletes have earned 129 Academic All-American Rivers Conference honors, including 11 this past season.   Prior to starting with the Spartans in 2009, Elsbernd served as head coach at Iowa Central Community College and spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Shes also worked with USA Volleyballs Iowa Region High Performance Program since 2011. Elsbernd also served as the University of Dubuque athletic departments Diversity and Inclusion Designee, and as an adjunct instructor for the Health, Wellness and Sport department and the First-Year Experience department.   A native of Calmar, Iowa (South Winneshiek HS), Elsbernd played her college volleyball at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earning her bachelors degree in 2003 with majors in sociology, public relations and speech communications. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Kohawks, and earned Academic All-Iowa Conference honors in 2001 and 2002. She earned her Masters Degree in Sport Administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2007, and earned her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from National Louis University (Ill.) in 2020.

Jay Kam (Seattle Pacific '00) who developed Century College into a junior-college volleyball power over the past decade, was named as the 12th head coach in the history of the Augsburg University volleyball program in May 2025.   Kam, who started the volleyball program at Century, an NJCAA program in White Bear Lake, Minn., in 2018, has compiled a 96-44 record in the team's five seasons as a varsity program (2019, 2021-24). The Wood Ducks have reached the NJCAA Division III National Championships each of the last three seasons, finishing fourth nationally in 2022, as national runner-up in 2023 and fourth nationally in 2024. Century athletes have earned five NJCAA All-American honors in the past three seasons.   The Wood Ducks went 28-6 in 2024, finishing second in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference South Division standings with a 10-2 record, finished second in the MCAC South in 2023 with a 29-5 overall (13-2 MCAC) record, and won the MCAC South title in 2022 with a 24-7 overall (14-2 MCAC) record. Century won the NJCAA Region 13A championship, along with the North Plains A District championship, in both 2022 and 2023.   Kam was named NJCAA Region 13A and North Plains A District Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, and MCAC South Division Coach of the Year in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.   In addition to his coaching at Century, Kam has served as a head coach and age division lead for the Kokoro Volleyball club program in Lake Elmo, Minn., since 2021. In 2024, Kam also served as U15 head coach for the North Country Region High Performance Regional Development Program.   Kam received his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) in 2000, and his master's degree in physical education from Minnesota State University Mankato in 2013. He also served on the exercise science faculty at Normandale Community College (Minn.) from 2013 to 2018.

Selena Rodriguez (St. Olaf ’24) joined the Augsburg University volleyball coaching staff as a graduate fellow assistant coach in the fall of 2025. Rodriguez graduated with cum laude honors from St. Olaf College in 2024 with degrees in Political Science and International Relations and minors in Latin American Studies and Race and Ethnic Studies. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Augsburg. A libero for St. Olaf, she earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region honors, was a two-time All-MIAC and two-time MIAC All-Playoff Team selection, and twice received Academic All-MIAC recognition. She also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors and was named MIAC Defensive Player of the Week six times in her career. In addition to her playing career, Rodriguez has developed as a coach, serving as a head coach with the Kokoro Volleyball Program and with the Vital Volleyball Program.

John Nguyencong, a veteran volleyball coach on the club and junior college level, joined head coach Jay Kam's Augsburg volleyball coaching staff as an assistant in the 2025 season. A native Minnesotan, Nguyencong served as an assistant on Kam's staff at Century College, which reached the NJCAA national tournament and finished fourth nationally in 2024, going 28-6. A club-level head coach for the past eight years, he serves as assistant director for the Kokoro Volleyball Club in the Twin Cities. He also served as an Army Combat Medic for eight years. Nguyencong says that his coaching philosophy is heavily rooted in three areas: "1) Meeting my athletes where they are at. "2) Approaching situations with curiosity, not with judgment.  "3) I believe in empowering my athletes to be confident and gritty athletes. Equipping them with as many tools as I can to help lead them to success both on and off the court." In his spare time, Nguyencong says that he loves "being on my motorcycle, playing volleyball and being the best uncle."