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A former All-American and member of the last Long Beach State team to win a NCAA championship will join the 49ers coaching staff.
Long Beach State announced Tuesday that Chris Seiffert was hired as an assistant coach for the 2012 season.
Seiffert, a three-time All-American setter, played at Long Beach State from 1997-2000 and as a junior helped lead the 49ers to the 1999 championship. More than a decade since the end of his college career, he remains second all-time in school history with a 17.08 career assists per game average.
“I am extremely excited to have Chris Seiffert back with LBSU men’s volleyball as an assistant coach,” 49ers interim head coach Read said in a statement. “He brings an incredible amount of experience and passion to our program, which our players are definitely going to benefit from.”
Seiffert after graduating from Long Beach State had a 10-year professional volleyball that included playing for teams in Austria, Greece, Turkey and Romania. In addition, the setter played for the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2001-05 and was an alternate for the 2004 Olympics.
Long Beach State (15-14, 12-10 MPSF) finished last season in sixth place in the MPSF and reached the conference tournament semifinals before losing to UC Santa Barbara.
Seiffert replaces John Hawk on the 49ers’ coaching staff. Hawk, the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team, resigned earlier this month to become the director of volleyball at the Spire Institute in Ohio.