Eastern University Women's Volleyball

Coach Birtwistle has been at the helm of Eastern University Volleyball for 32 years.  In that time, he has accumulated 778 career victories and 22 Conference Championships. Eastern advanced to the National Semifinals in 2011 and the Elite Eight in 2013 and 2016. His teams have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament 20 times, advancing to the Sweet 16 on ten occasions. Birtwistle's 778-256 career record (75%) places him among the top winningest active coaches in NCAA DIII Volleyball.  In 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016, Coach Birtwistle was honored by the AVCA as the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. Birtwistle has led the Eagles to regional prominence as was ranked in the nation's Top 25 for 10 consecutive years.  His teams have produced 24 seasons with 20 or more wins and 12 seasons with more than 30 wins.  During that ten year stretch from 2008-2018, his program won 10 Conference Championships, advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen seven times, the Elite Eight three times and to the Final Four.  The Eagles amassed a 332-66 overall record (83%), and named 30 All-Americans. Birtwistle has countless memories in his time at EU, but none more important than the players that have built this program. The Eagles have had 38 AVCA Division III All-Americans, three of whom were 4-time selections.  Eastern University Volleyball is one of only three programs in NCAA DIII history to have three, 4-time  All-Americans.  Eastern has named over 50 AVCA All-Region players and more than 100 All-Conference players.  Birtwistle's players have also excelled in the classroom with more than 90 Academic Honor Roll selections and 12 Academic All-Conference student-athletes.  Eastern has five times been honored with the AVCA Team Academic Award.     Birtwistle has coached with USA Volleyball's High Performance teams at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs as well as various Gold Medal Camps throughout the country. He's served on the NCAA Regional selection committee as well as the AVCA's Top 25 selection committee.  Birtwistle works full-time for the university and currently resides on-campus with his wife Heidi.  His daughter Ali is a teacher and lives in Denver, CO, and his son, Jackson, plays lacrosse at Syracuse University.