Tuesday, April 12, 2022
by Seattle Pacific Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – In his 12 years of working his way up the volleyball coaching ladder, Jason Rhine has learned a lot about strategy – some of it for winning a match, some of it for winning in life.
 
Now, he'll be bringing that know-how to Seattle.
 
Rhine, after spending the past seven seasons at Colorado Christian University, has been named the new head coach at Seattle Pacific, as announced on Friday by athletic director Jackson Stava.

"I'm excited, because the team is at a good place, returning a lot of players who were starting last year with the strong finish they had in the regular season," the 37-year-old Rhine said. "And I know they're looking to try to push into the playoffs."
 
Rhine takes over from former coach Abbie Wright, who resigned in March after five seasons to become the associate head coach at Fresno State.
 
"I am beyond excited to welcome Jason to the Falcon athletics family," Stava said. "Jason is a coach who is clearly aligned with our mission of character formation and faith integration through the vehicle of college volleyball. He'll immediately begin to make an impact in the lives of our student-athletes.

"Furthermore, his attention to detail, recruiting, and scouting acumen, and his vast volleyball knowledge prepares him to lead this team in their pursuit of conference and regional success and accolades," Stava added.
 
Rhine joined Colorado Christian as an assistant coach in July 2015 and was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2020-21 season. He spent four years as the setting and offensive coordinator, and three years as the defensive coordinator. He also was the program's recruiting director.
 
At Seattle Pacific, he takes over a team that went 15-10 overall last fall, including 11-7 to tie for fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Although the Falcons were not selected for the NCAA Tournament, they were in the postseason conversation up through the final week of the season. Their 15 victories included five against teams that did make the NCAAs: two against Central Washington, and one each against St. Cloud State of Minnesota, Alaska Anchorage, and Simon Fraser.
 
Rhine believes the team is poised to keep that upward trend going to a point where it can earn one of those eight coveted spots in the NCAA West Regionals.
 
"I think some next steps are just kind of getting to know a new system and maybe some new options on offense," he said. "But more than anything else, it's just growing in maturity and poise and ability to execute in a variety of situations as they continue to grow together."
 
Prior to his seven years at Colorado Christian, Rhine was an assistant coach for three seasons at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois (where he earned his master of divinity degree), and two seasons as the lead assistant at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He has two bachelor degrees from Wheaton College: one in computer science, and one in Biblical and theological studies.
 
"I've been privileged to work with several head coaches and learned a lot of different things about X's and O's on the court," Rhine said, "and also learn about how a good program is run, and how they create trust and how to just build a program that is sustainable and encourages excellence on and off the court."
 
Stava says that mindset will make Rhine a good fit for the Falcons.
 
"Abbie Wright did a great job of setting a very high standard for this program, and I look forward to how Jason will build upon that standard of success. I'm grateful to our campus community, the athletics staff, and specifically our volleyball student-athletes for their support in this hiring process. I know there is great excitement about Coach Rhine stepping into this role."