Brande Will Coach UCI Women Too

Charlie Brande, men’s volleyball coach at UC Irvine, was given additional responsibilities Wednesday when he was named coach of the Anteaters’ women’s volleyball team, Irvine Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said.

He replaces Merja Connolly-Freund, who resigned in November after posting a 30-87 record in four seasons. The UCI women’s team was 8-20 this fall and won only one of 16 Big West Conference games.

Brande, 49, who begins his fourth season as men’s coach next month, was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s coach of the year last spring after leading the Anteaters to a 14-11 record and their first appearance in the MPSF postseason tournament.

A former coach at Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools, Brande was an assistant men’s and women’s volleyball coach at Hawaii from 1980-81 and an assistant women’s coach at UCLA in 1982. He turned down a reported six-figure offer last spring to coach the women’s team at USC.

Brande has also run the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club for boys since 1976 and has been director of the Orange County Volleyball Club for girls since 1982.

Guerrero said Irvine has created a new position of associate head coach for women, and that a national search will be conducted to find a candidate, who will serve as Brande’s assistant. Several names have been mentioned for the job, including current Cincinnati Coach Laura Phillips Alford and Indiana assistant Elaina Oden, a former Irvine High standout.