Bio

Jon Ellmann, the 2023 American Volleyball Coaches Association’s NCAA Division III Coach of the Year, enters his seventh season at the helm of the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball program in 2024.

Ellmann, who was named UW-Oshkosh's head coach in January 2018 after serving as the program's interim head coach during the 2017 season, has produced a 145-60 record during his six seasons with the Titans, including a 37-2 mark in 2023 en route to earning the top seed at the eight-team Division III Championship finals. The 2020 campaign was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ellmann was named the NCAA Division III Region VIII and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 as the Titans went a combined 68-8 over those two seasons. He then became the first coach in program history to garner AVCA Division III Coach of the Year honors in 2023.

Ellmann has coached five players to six total Division III All-America honors, five Titans to a combined seven All-Region VIII First Team citations, and six players to a total of 10 All-WIAC First Team awards.

The 2023 campaign was one for the record books as Ellmann and the Titans started the year with a WIAC-record 34-match winning streak, claimed the WIAC regular season and Division III Oshkosh Regional titles in convincing fashion, headed to the national finals as the top seed in Claremont, Calif., and capped the year ranked fifth in the country with a 37-2 record. UW-Oshkosh was 7-0 in conference play, marking its third unbeaten run through the league and first since 2009. The Titans, who were ranked as high as second in the country for six consecutive weeks, went 10-2 against teams ranked in the AVCA’s top 25, including victories against second-ranked Trinity University (Texas), second-ranked Hope College (Mich.) and sixth-ranked University of Northwestern (Minn.) in addition to their first sweep at seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater since 1991, and the program’s first ever win over 12th-ranked Washington University (Mo.) in 16 all-time meetings. UW-Oshkosh also shattered the WIAC home attendance record with 2,725 fans during a 3-1 win over 17th-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 26. The 2,725 in attendance marked the fifth-most for a Division III regular season match. The Titans’ 34-match winning streak, which spanned from the Sept. 1 season opener until the WIAC Tournament final on Nov. 9, is the 14th longest in Division III history. UW-Oshkosh’s two losses were the fewest in school history while its 37 wins led the nation and were the most by a WIAC team since the Titans went 39-3 in 2009. The Titans secured their 14th WIAC regular season championship and first outright since 2009 before going on to win the sixth regional title in program archives with three straight NCAA home wins over Greenville University (Ill.), Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) and University of La Verne (Calif.). The historic season came to an end in the national quarterfinals at Division III Championship host and eighth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.). Four Titans received AVCA All-America recognition as Riley Kindt was named to the First Team while Riley Dahlquist, Abby Fregien and Sami Perlberg each earned Honorable Mention accolades. Kindt, who was voted the Most Outstanding Player at the Oshkosh Regional, and Perlberg were tabbed AVCA Region VIII Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, as the Titans swept the regional awards with Ellmann’s Coach of the Year award. UW-Oshkosh finished the season as the Division III leader in wins, kills, assists, digs and attacks while ranking second nationally in winning percentage; fourth in kills and assists per set, and both average and cumulative home attendance; and seventh in blocks. The Titans collected the second-most kills (79) and assists (76) in a Division III match in 2023 during their five-set comeback victory at Washington University on Oct. 13.

In 2022, Ellmann claimed region and conference Coach of the Year honors on the way to guiding UW-Oshkosh to its best season in more than a decade. The Titans finished the year ranked 15th in the country with a 31-6 record that included winning the program’s first NCAA postseason match since 2009 with a 3-2 decision over 17th-ranked Otterbein University (Ohio). UW-Oshkosh earned an at-large berth into the Division III Championship following a runner-up showing in the WIAC standings and six victories over regionally ranked opponents during the regular season. The Titans, whose 31 wins ranked third in the country, capped the season as the national leader in kills, digs and assists while also pacing the conference in winning percentage and digs per set. The Titans ascended to eighth in the national poll – the program’s highest ranking since 2010 – on the heels of a 19-match winning streak between Sept. 21 and Nov. 3. UW-Oshkosh libero Abby Fregien, the WIAC Defensive Player of the Year, was named a Third Team All-American, while pin hitter Carissa Sundholm garnered All-America Honorable Mention recognition and middle blocker Riley Kindt was tabbed an All-Region VIII Honorable Mention selection. Fregien ended the year ranked fifth nationally in digs, and Sundholm was seventh in the country in kills. Ellmann’s 100th career victory was a 3-1 triumph at reigning national champion and 12th-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 19, 2022.

During the 2021 campaign, Ellmann and the Titans went 19-12 overall and placed third in the WIAC with a 4-3 mark. UW-Oshkosh reached the semifinals of the WIAC Championship, where it suffered a five-set setback at eventual national champion UW-Eau Claire. A school-record 12 of UW-Oshkosh's 31 matches went to five sets.

In 2019, Ellmann led UW-Oshkosh to a 21-10 record, including a 4-3 WIAC mark that placed the Titans fourth in the league standings. The Titans, who won 10 of 11 matches from Sept. 6-25, paced the conference at 2.10 blocks per set and made their WIAC record-tying 32nd consecutive trip to the league postseason tournament.

Ellmann's 2018 Titans went 17-15 overall and 2-5 in conference matches as UW-Oshkosh completed its 20th consecutive season with a .500 or better winning percentage. UW-Oshkosh advanced to the semifinals of the WIAC Championship after becoming the league’s first sixth-seeded team since 1997 to win a first-round match.

Ellmann guided UW-Oshkosh to a 20-15 record in 2017, including a 3-4 mark in the WIAC. The Titans, who won seven of their last eight matches and reached the semifinal round of the WIAC Championship, led the league with 2.13 blocks per set.

Before coaching the Titans in an interim capacity, Ellmann was UW-Oshkosh's top assistant coach during the 2016 season, when the program compiled a 28-8 record, earned a share of its second straight WIAC title and advanced to the NCAA Division III postseason. He assisted in all phases of the program, with emphases in game analysis, scouting, recruiting and youth camps.

Ellmann, who played for the UW-Oshkosh men's club volleyball team, returned to UW-Oshkosh after coaching 17 years at the high school level, including 11 seasons as the girls head volleyball coach at Lourdes Academy in Oshkosh from 2005-15. Ellmann led the Knights to the state tournament in 2015 and the sectional finals in both 2013 and 2014. His teams won conference titles in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Ellmann began his coaching career with the Gibraltar High School girls freshman and junior varsity volleyball teams from 1999-2003 before becoming an assistant varsity coach at Lourdes Academy in 2004.

Ellmann also has extensive coaching experience at the club level, leading the Wisconsin Volleyball Academy, the largest volleyball club in Wisconsin, from 2008-18 as its co-director and head coach. Ellmann and the WVA helped 107 girls earn an opportunity to play volleyball at the NCAA level, including 38 at Division III, 31 at Division I and 26 at Division II. Prior to joining the WVA, Ellmann was the director and head coach of the Nightmares Volleyball Club from 2004-08.

Ellmann, who served as president of the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association from 2011-16, is the owner of Oshkosh Camps LLC, which is dedicated to the skill development of student-athletes and the promotion of the sport of volleyball in Wisconsin, and the owner of Spiketown USA, a volleyball club program with satellite locations throughout Wisconsin.

Ellmann was inducted into the WVCA Hall of Fame on Aug. 7, 2021, in Appleton.

The Gibraltar High School graduate earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from UW-Oshkosh in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Ellmann lives in Neenah with his wife, Jackie. Ellmann has two children, Theo and Cooper.

(4/1/2024)