Aaron Seltzer has had 21 extremely successful seasons as the head coach of Biola's volleyball program. He is the program's all-time leader with 540 wins and a sparkling .749 winning percentage (540-181). Beginning in 2024, Seltzer stepped down into assistant coach role for the Eagles.
In his final season at the helm, Seltzer helped
2022 saw the Eagles maintain its perfect stretch of at least 17 regular season wins under Seltzer. The team added 14 conference wins to finish fourth in the PacWest and placed three on the All-PacWest Second Team, including Madison Beebe, Anna Aubele and Abby Brewster. BU thrived in the classroom with 13 Academic All-PacWest award-winners, placing over 80 percent of the team on the prestigious list.
Seltzer and the Eagles put together a strong run in 2021, picking up 20 wins for the 17th time in his career at BU. A 10 match winning streak highlighted the 20th year of coaching for Seltzer, boosting the team to a second place finish in the conference. During the stretch, Seltzer picked up his 500th career victory as a head coach, defeating Dominican in straight-sets on November 4. A trio of Eagles capped off the 2021 season with All-PacWest honors.
Seltzer recorded his 400th career coaching victory with a 3-0 victory over San Diego Christian College on the road on November 3, 2016. That was the final year that he and his team competed in the NAIA and the Golden State Athletic Conference as it transitioned to the NCAA Division II and the PacWest. That year he led the team to a 26-11 overall record and its 16th appearance in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.
| Seltzer's Record at Biola |
Year
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
17-18
2017
2018
2019
2020*
2021
2022
2023
TOTAL |
Overall
26-8
32-9
20-11
19-11
20-12
32-8
31-4
23-11
28-10
27-13
31-5
27-4
32-5
30-4
26-11
Biola
28-7
30-6
17-13
6-2
20-8
17-10
18-9
540-181
(.749) |
Conference
13-7 (5th)
16-4 (2nd)
11-9 (T-5th)
11-9 (T-4th)
12-8 (T-4th)
14-6 (4th)
17-3 (2nd)
13-7 (T-4th)
16-4 (T-2nd)
10-8 (4th)
12-2 (2nd)
12-2 (2nd)
15-1 (T-1st)
14-2 (2nd)
13-3 (2nd)
Enters the
15-5 (2nd)
19-3 (2nd)
14-8 (6th)
5-1 (1st)
16-4 (2nd)
14-6 (4th)
14-6 (3rd)
296-108
(.733) |
Playoffs
Regional 1st Rd
NAIA Semifinals
Regional 1st Rd
Regional 1st Rd
Regional 1st Rd
NAIA Semifinals
NAIA Semifinals
NAIA Pool Play
NAIA Quarters
NAIA Quarters
NAIA Semifinals
NAIA Finals
NAIA Semifinals
NAIA Quarters
NAIA Rd of 16
PacWest Conference
NCCAA Champs
NCCAA Champs
PacWest SoCal Pod Champs
|
|
The Eagles made it out of pool play for the seventh year in a row before ultimately seeing their year come to a close in the round of 16 when they lost to the eventual national champion, Hastings (Neb.). It marked the fifth year in a row that Seltzer's squad was eliminated from the single-elimination bracket by the eventual tournament champion.
The following year (2017) was Biola's first year eligible for NCAA Division II regular season competition. The Eagles' made the jump to the PacWest Conference and made an immediate impact. Seltzer's squad was picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches' poll and went on to compile a 15-5 conference record to finish in a tie for second place with archrival Azusa Pacific. Biola would end that season with a National Christian College Athletic Association national championship after making a 6-0 run through the NCCAA national tournament. The Eagles competed in the NCCAA to give teams a chance at postseason play since there is a two-year postseason ban for teams entering into the NCAA Division II.
The Eagles would have made the NCAA Division II postseason with the performance they had during a 28-7 2017 season. Seltzer's team would have been a top-6 team in the west region and competed with PacWest, CCAA and GNAC teams at the west regional for a chance to advance to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Instead, the team went undefeated and brought a blue banner back home from Kissimmee, Florida winning the program's first NCCAA title. Seltzer was named NCCAA Coach of the Year and had four NCCAA All-Americans and two PacWest all-conference players. Tess Van Grouw, his senior libero that season, won Biola's first-ever individual PacWest postseason honors by getting named PacWest Libero of the Year.
Year two in NCAA Division II was equally as successful for Seltzer and the Eagles. The team went 30-6 overall and 19-3 in PacWest Conference competition to finish second in the conference once again. For the second-consecutive season the Eagles took home a NCCAA National Championship, going a perfect 7-0 in NCCAA postseason play. Biola won its first six NCCAA matches 3-0 and dropped just one set against College of the Ozarks in the national championship match, which was a home match for Ozarks.
Biola ended its 2018 campaign with 12-straight wins and went 12-1 inside of Chase Gymnasium on the season. Sierra Bauder had an incredible senior campaign as the Eagles' no. 1 middle blocker. She set a new PacWest Conference record for single-season hitting percentage (.441) and won PacWest Conference Player of the Year.
Seltzer eclipsed the 300-win mark with a 3-0 road win over Vanguard on Sept. 24, 2013. At the end of the 2013 season Seltzer was rewarded for his team's run to the NAIA tournament finals with the recognition as the NAIA/AVCA National Coach of the Year
He again earned recognition from the AVCA in 2014 when he was named the NAIA/AVCA regional coach of the year after leading Biola to its first Golden State Athletic Conference volleyball championship since 1997. He led the team to a 15-1 conference record, highlighted by a 3-1 road win over then-No. 2 Concordia that all-but sealed the Eagles' share of the 2014 championship.
His team again made a deep postseason run, making it all the way to the NAIA Semifinals before losing 2-3 to the eventual undefeated national championship team, No. 1 Park (Mo.). Biola was the only team to take more than a set from the Pirates in the 2014 season.
In 2014 Seltzer coached Amy Weststeyn to the NAIA/AVCA National Player of the Year honor. She became the Eagles' first national player of the year winner.
2015 marked the fourth season in a row that Biola was eliminated from the NAIA National Tournament by the eventual national champion. Biola got knocked out in the quarterfinals after taking Columbia (Mo.) to five sets and losing 16-14. The Cougars did not drop a set for the rest of the tournament.
During his tenure with the Eagles, Seltzer has guided the team to the postseason in 17 of his 18 seasons, including 11 NAIA Tournament berths, six national semifinals appearances and one national final berth. He has coached players to 40 All-GSAC honors and has had 18 student-athletes who have earned 30 NAIA All-American awards. Seltzer has also been named the GSAC Coach of the Year five times, the first in 2003, two coming back-to-back in 2007 and 2008, and his most recent honors coming back-to-back in 2013-14.
In addition, under his guidance, the Eagles were consistently among the NAIA's Top-25 teams each year. The team spent several weeks at No. 1 in the nation during the 2015 season. It was the first time in program history the team was ranked tops in the NAIA.
Biola experienced one of its most successful seasons in program history in 2013, under Seltzer's guidance. The Eagles ended the season 27-4 with their four losses coming to the two teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NAIA all season long. The Eagles finished conference play 12-2 and in second place after losing to Concordia 3-2 in a regular season-ending home match with the Eagles. They made a deep postseason run, including a huge 3-0 sweep over Concordia in the national semifinals. Biola lost 3-0 to Texas-Brownsville in the national championship match.
Biola put together its fourth 30-win season under Coach Seltzer in 2012, going 31-5 overall and reaching the NAIA Semifinals. Four of the Eagles' five loses came against the top two teams in the nation. Biola swept its pool play matches at the national tournament including winning a five-set thriller over Lee University (Tenn.) to avenge a quarterfinal loss in 2011. Biola beat MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) in four in the NAIA Quarterfinals, setting up a match against GSAC rival Concordia University in the semifinals. However, Concordia was able to hold on for a four-set victory to end Biola's season.
Biola had an up and down 2011 season, beating the No. 1-ranked and previous undefeated Texas-Brownsville team in four games at home and reached the NAIA Tournament for the fifth-straight year. The Eagles finished 27-13 and 10-8 in GSAC play, but saved the best for last. Biola went a perfect 3-0 in pool play including knocking off No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Fla.). The Eagles then knocked off GSAC foe Fresno Pacific University to reach the NAIA Quarterfinals before falling to Lee University (Tenn.).
Biola put together another strong season in 2010, finishing second in the GSAC with a 16-4 conference mark and posting a 28-10 overall record. The Eagles reached the NAIA Quarterfinals after defeating GSAC-rival Concordia University in a five-set thriller in the single-elimination round.
The 2009 season may have been the most impressive as Seltzer's team was in the midst of a "rebuilding" process having lost all six starters from the previous two seasons. Despite playing much of the season with three freshman starters including a setter thrust into the starting role due to injuries, Biola reached the NAIA tournament for the third-straight season and finished 10th in the final NAIA ratings. The Eagles would post their fourth-straight 20-win season and finished tied for fourth in the GSAC with a 13-7 record.
The previous two season were among the best in Biola's history as Seltzer's teams went a combined 63-12 and reached the NAIA semifinals in both years. In 2007, the Eagles turned heads by starting the season with 12-straight wins and knocking off No. 1 Fresno Pacific University in five games on Halloween night. In its first NAIA Tournament appearance in four years, the Eagles swept through pool play and defeated National American University (S.D.) in four to reach the semifinals. But Biola was unable to defeat Fresno Pacific again, falling in three close games to the eventual national champions to end the season. The Eagles finished with a 32-8 record, posting an .800 or better winning percentage for the seventh time in school history.
Seltzer welcomed all six starters back with the team in 2008 and Biola made another strong run. The Eagles opened the year with 15-straight victories, dropping just three games over that stretch. Thanks to a thrilling five-set victory over Concordia on November 1, Biola moved into the No. 2 spot in the NAIA Top 25 and would earn the second overall seed in the NAIA tournament. After sweeping through pool play, the Eagles knocked off local favorite Northwestern College to advance to what turned out to be an all-GSAC semifinal. Biola would eventually bow out of the tournament at the hands of Concordia in the semis, but finished with a program-best 31-4 record.
Seltzer took over the program in 2002 and immediately posted an impressive 26-8 record, placing fifth in the GSAC and reaching the NAIA Region II Tournament.
The next year, he guided the Eagles back to the NAIA Tournament for the first time in four seasons and the most wins since 1985. Biola placed second in the GSAC and reached the NAIA Semifinals before bowing out to Columbia College.
