| Mark Rosen |
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 | Position: Head Coach
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 | Experience: 11th Season
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Wolverine head coach Mark Rosen enters his 11th season at Michigan, having firmly established the Wolverines in the national spotlight by guiding the team to its second straight NCAARegional semifinal in 2008.The second-longest tenured coach in program history, Rosen's .702 winning percentage at Michigan ranks first among the programs head coaches and places him 27th on the list of active NCAA Division I bench bosses entering the 2009 campaign. He is one of only three current Big Ten head coaches to guide his team to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last ten seasons, with Rosen's Wolverines advancing to the second round or better in six of those eight trips.
The 2008 season was a banner year for the Wolverines as Rosen led the team to a personal-best 26 wins -- tying thesecond highest win total in Wolverine volleyball history and the most victories since 1981. Rosen became the winningest coach in program history in 2008 when he notchedvictory number 178 versus Purdue (Oct. 10, 2008) passingSandy Vong for the top spot among U-M coaches. Rosen didn't stop there, guiding Michigan to a new program mark for winning percentage (.743) and tallied the most wins in his coaching tenure at Michigan, with a 26-9 record. Rosen has topped the 20-win mark in five of the last six seasons and has suffered just two losing seasons in his entire head coaching career, leading his teams to 30-win seasons on five occasions and 20-win seasons in 10 of 16 career campaigns.
Michigan tied a program record with its third-straight 13-0 start in 2008, highlighted by four straight tournament championships to beging the season. The Wolverines reaped the rewards of their record season with Lexi Zimmerman (unanimous All-Big Ten selection), Beth Karpiak (honorable mention All-Big Ten) andAlex Hunt(All-Big Ten Freshman Team) earning postseason accolades. Zimmerman went on to earn AVCA All-Mideast Region and second team All-America accolades, becoming the first Wolvering to earn higher than a third-team honor.
Rosen has vaulted the Wolverines to national prominence, with U-M receiving votes or being ranked in the AVCA Top 25 for the entire 2007 and 2008campaigns. Michigan peaked at No. 10 in the nation for two weeks and remained in the top 25 for a total of 11 weeks in 2007. Rosen helped U-M crack the AVCA Top 25 poll for the first time in program history in his first week on the Wolverine bench in 1999. Michigan remained in the top 25 for five consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 18 and earning the program's second bid to the NCAA Tournament and the first since 1997. In 2000, Michigan made its first appearance in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Preseason Top 25 poll, ranking 24th in the country.
In 2007, Rosen led the Wolverines to a then personal-best 24 winsand the teams second-straight 13-0 start, highlighted by a season-opening victory at No. 10 Hawaii. The Wolverines reaped the rewards of their record season with Katie Bruzdzinski (unanimous All-Big Ten selection) and Lexi Zimmerman (All-Big Ten Freshman Team) earning postseason accolades, while Michigan picked up its first Big Ten Player of the Year honor when Stesha Selsky was named Defensive Player of the Year. The honors continued to flow in when Bruzdzinski and Zimmerman earned AVCA All-Mideast Region honors, with Zimmerman being named Mideast Region Freshman of the Year, while Lyndsay Miller earned All-Mideast Region honorable mention. Bruzdzinski and Zimmerman advanced to the national All-America ballot where they both earned honorable mention nods.
No stranger to success, Rosen led Northern Michigan to a national championship as a first-year head coach in 1994, posting 20 or more wins eight times. He led Cal-State Bakersfield (1992-93) to a regional final and the Division II finals in his first two seasons as a head coach before joining Northern Michigan in 1994. Rosen helped guide Northern Michigan to another berth in the Division II finals in 1995, followed by a pair of semifinals before taking over the head coaching duties at Boise State in 1998 where he led the Broncos to an 18-9 record and second place in the Big West Conference.
Rosen has coached Michigan's only two AVCA All-Americans (Erin Moore and Zimmerman) and all three of the Wolverines' AVCA All-Mideast Region honorees (Moore, Katie Bruzdzinski and Lexi Zimmerman). Rosen has had 10 honorees on All-Big Ten squads, one Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, one Mideast Region Freshman of the Year and 18 student-athletes earning 36 Academic All-Big Ten honors, with Erin Moore earning CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in 2003 and Stesha Selsky picking up All-District honors in 2007.
Rosen heads one of the most experienced coaching staffs in the conference with associate head coach Leisa Rosen (1991 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and one of Sports Illustrated's 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century from Alaska) and U-Massistant coach Amanda Ault(10 years of collegiate coaching experience) on the bench. The Rosens have coached together since 1998 and this stability has helped them take Michigan to the next level and make the Wolverines a fixture in the NCAA Tournament. Whitis has been pivotal on the recruiting end, helping secure a 2008 freshman class that is one of the best in the country.
Rosen made a splash in his inaugural season with the Wolverines in 1999 when Michigan upset No. 7 BYU, 3-0 in the opening match of the season. They went on to sweep Toledo and Georgia 3-0 in the Outback Steakhouse Invitational in Athens, Ga., and debuted in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll for the first time in program history. Michigan remained in the top 25 for five consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 18 after downing No. 18 Ohio State. The Wolverines earned their first bid to the NCAA Tournament under Rosen and just its second bid in program history. Michigan defeated Fairfield in the opening round of the tournament but fell to Pacific in five games in the second round. In 2000, Michigan made its first appearance in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Preseason Top 25 poll, ranking 24th in the country and advanced to its second-straight NCAA Tournament, pushing past Louisville in the first round before falling to Arizona.
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Rosen earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in biology from California State University at Northridge (1985) where he was a three-time varsity volleyball letterwinner. Rosen holds memberships in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the U.S. Volleyball Association.
Rosen is married to Wolverine associate head coach Leisa (Wissler) Rosen. The couple has two sons, Brady and Cameron.
Coaching Record
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Pct. |
Conf. |
Place |
NCAA Tournament |
| 1992 |
Cal State-Bakersfield |
25-9 |
.735 |
11-1 |
1st |
Div. II Regional Finals |
| 1993 |
Cal State-Bakersfield |
32-3 |
.914 |
10-0 |
1st |
Div. II National Runner-up |
| 1994 |
Northern Michigan |
32-4 |
.889 |
16-2 |
1st |
Div. II National Champion |
| 1995 |
Northern Michigan |
34-3 |
.919 |
18-0 |
1st |
Div. II National Runner-up |
| 1996 |
Northern Michigan |
33-5 |
.868 |
17-1 |
1st |
Div. II Semifinalist |
| 1997 |
Northern Michigan |
35-4 |
.897 |
18-0 |
1st |
Div. II Semifinalist |
| 1998 |
Boise State |
18-9 |
.667 |
11-5 |
2nd |
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| 1999 |
Michigan |
16-15 |
.516 |
7-13 |
t-8th |
Div. I Second Round |
| 2000 |
Michigan |
19-14 |
.576 |
8-12 |
7th |
Div. I Second Round |
| 2001 |
Michigan |
13-14 |
.481 |
9-11 |
7th |
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| 2002 |
Michigan |
16-15 |
.516 |
10-10 |
t-6th |
Div. I First Round |
| 2003 |
Michigan |
21-12 |
.636 |
12-8 |
5th |
Div. I Second Round |
| 2004 |
Michigan |
20-13 |
.606 |
9-11 |
t-6th |
Div. I Second Round |
| 2005 |
Michigan |
13-16 |
.448 |
7-13 |
t-7th |
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| 2006 |
Michigan
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21-13 |
.618 |
8-12 |
t-7th |
Div. I First Round
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| 2007 |
Michigan |
24-11 |
.686 |
10-10 |
t-5th |
Div. I Round of 16 |
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2008
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Michigan
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26-9
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.743
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12-8
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5th
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Div. I Round of 16
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| Career Totals (16 seasons) |
398-169 |
.702 |
185-105 |
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| Michigan Record (10 seasons) |
189-132 |
.589 |
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| Big Ten Record (10 seasons) |
92-108 |
.460 |
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