Northwestern College Athletics

Hired as Northwestern's ninth head coach in the spring of 2005, Kyle Van Den Bosch is in his 21st year as the head coach of the Northwestern College volleyball team entering 2025. Van Den Bosch boasts an impressive 557-148 overall record, wining nearly 80% of his matches while at NWC and is an nine-time Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Coach of the Year. In 2021, he surpassed his predecessor Mike Meyer for the most wins in NWC volleyball program history. 

The 2023 volleyball season proved to be one of the most memorable for the Red Raider volleyball program. Northwestern broke through and won their first-ever NAIA Quarterfinal match, picking up a 3-1 win over Vanguard (Calif.). The run would continue, as NWC punched their first-ever ticket into the NAIA title match with a 3-1 win over Viterbo (Wis.) in Sioux City. The Red Raiders finished the season with a 31-3 overall record and finishing 14-2 in GPAC play, earning a share of the Regular Season title and winning their first GPAC tournament title since 2014. Northwestern finished the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the NAIA for the first time in program history. 

"What an incredible ride this team took all of us on this season! We have had so many comments that this team was so much fun to watch because of how they interacted together as a group," commented Van Den Bosch on the 2023 season. "To win the conference title, the conference tournament title and play for a National Championship is a pretty special year. They also challenged each other in their faith and grew very close together as a whole program. This team raised the bar for our volleyball program at what is possible to accomplish both on and off the court."

The 2023 season saw junior outside hitter Jazlin De Haan garner AVCA/NAIA First Team All-American honors, AVCA West Central Region Player of the Year, and GPAC Player of the Year honors. Sophomore Middle Hitter Zavyr Metzger earned GAPC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors, while leading the NAIA in total blocks (229) and blocks per set (1.97), while fellow junior outside Hitter Alysen Dexter was named a Second Team All-American (AVCA/NAIA).

Van Den Bosch has led the Red Raiders to 11 GPAC titles (regular season and tournament combined), has led the program to be ranked in the final NAIA poll of the season in 16 of his 20 seasons, including 11 top-10 rankings with the highest end-of-season rank being No. 1 (2023). He has led the program to 15 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national tournament appearances, including eight-straight and hosting five-straight Opening Round matches, and has led the program to four of eight NAIA Quarterfinal round appearances and the program's lone NAIA national title match appearance. 

Additionally, in all but two seasons Van Den Bosch has led the Red Raider volleyball to 20+ wins, including 11 30+ win campaigns. He currently has led the volleyball program to eight-straight 20+ win seasons (2017-24), setting a new record, breaking his longest 20+-win streaks (2005-10). 

He has coached 30 All-Americans in his tenure in Orange City, placing 19 athletes to First Team All-American lists between the NAIA and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) teams. He has coached at least one athlete named to an All-American team (First, Second, or Honorable Mention) in 19 straight years. Additionally, he has coached one NAIA Player of the Year (Anna Wedel, 2019) and one AVCA Freshman of the Year (Alysen Dexter, 2021).

He has also coached 10 AVCA Region Players of the Year, combining Region III and the updated West Central Region (beginning in 2008), two West Central Region Player of the Year (Jazlin De Haan, 2023, 25), two West Central Region Freshman of the Year (Alysen Dexter, 2021 and Lacy (Wacker) Reitz, 2017), one AVCA West Central Region Libero of the Year (Alexis Bart, 2014), and one West Central Region Setter of the Year (Lacey (Wacker) Reitz, 2020).

In the GPAC, on top of his Coach of the Year honors, Van Den Bosch has coached 13 GPAC Players of the Year, three GPAC Freshman of the Year, and two GPAC Setters of the Year. He has also celebrated 60 GPAC First Team All-Conference performers in his time leading the Red Raider volleyball program. 

In the classroom, Van Den Bosch's student-athletes have also excelled. In 2015, he coached the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in Karlie Schut. He's had eight total athletes named to the College Sports Communicators' (CSC), formerly CoSIDA, Academic All-America teams, including two-time honorees Lacey (Wacker) Reitz (2019 & 2020), Jazlin (De Haan) Douma (2023 & 2024), and Zavyr Metzger (2023 & 2024). He has coached nine Academic All-District honorees, highlighted by two-time honoree Karlie Schut (2013 & 2014). Additionally, Schut won the 2014 GPAC A.O. Duer Scholarship Award.

“It is a true blessing to be able to work with the type of quality young women that are here on the Northwestern College volleyball team," notes Van Den Bosch. "It's my desire that the players in our program will continue to grow in their passion for Christ and in their passion for the game of volleyball.”

Van Den Bosch is a 1998 graduate of Dordt College (now University) and is married to his wife, Dawn. The two have two children Jackson and Aubrey. 

Coaching Experience:
2005-pres.: Head Coach, Northwestern College
2004: Assistant Coach, MOC-Floyd Valley H.S.
1998-03: Head Coach, Calvin Christian School
1997: Head Coach, Western Christian H.S.

Milestones: 
    - Career Leader in wins at NWC: v. Clarke University (Iowa) (Aug. 28, 2021, 471 wins)
    - 500th Career Win: v. Kansas Wesleyan (September 1, 2023)

Coaching Accomplishments:

• 1 NAIA national title match appearance (2023)
• 1x ended season as No. 1 team in NAIA (final NAIA poll) (2023)
• 9x GPAC Coach of the Year (2007-10, 2013-14, 2023-24)
• 9x AVCA Regional Coach of the Year (2007-10, 2014, 2019, 2023-24)
• 13 NAIA Coaches' Polls ranked No. 1 in the NAIA (2019, 2023-24)
• 7: NAIA national Quarterfinal appearances (2007-09, 2019-21, 2023)
• 15 trips to the NAIA national tournament - Final Site (2006-10, 2013-14, 2017-24)
• 9 GPAC Regular Season titles (2008-10, 2013-14, 2017, 2019, 2023-24)
• 6 GPAC Tournament titles (2009-10, 2014, 2023-24)
• 11 finishes inside the NAIA Top-10 (2008-10, 2013-14, 2019-23-24)
• 15 finishes inside the NAIA Top-25 (2006-10, 2013-15, 2017-23-24)

Team Accomplishments Under Van Den Bosch:

• Best overall winning percentage in program history for a single season (32-1/.970; 2024)
• Set a record with 58-straight wins in GPAC play (2008-10)
• No. 1 ranking in the NAIA for 12 polls (2019 (4), 2023 (2), 2024 (6))
• Ranked second in the NAIA; second-highest national ranking (2009)
• 16-time NAIA Scholar Team (2008-23)
• Two-time AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll (2014-15)

Other Coaching Accomplishments:

• Most wins in program history (557), passing his predecessor Mike Meyer in 2021
• 1 NAIA Player of the Year (Anna Wedel, 2020)
• 30 All-Americans (named to a team, HM not included)
• 42 Total All-Americans (HM included)
• 14 GPAC Players of the Year (most recent: Jazlin Douma, offensive / Zavyr Metzger, co-defensive; 2024)
• 9 CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-America selections