Neumann University Athletics

Deana Jespersen begins her tenth season as the head coach of the Neumann Knights volleyball team in the 2013 fall season.  Coach Jespersen has guided her Knights volleyball team to the conference playoffs eight of the past nine seasons while claiming three Championships. Additionally, the Knights have made three NCAA Appearances and two ECAC South Region Appearances.

Coach Jespersen and the Knights won the CSAC Championship in 2012 in a thrilling 3-2 win over Cabrini. Neumann finished the regular season with a perfect 11-0 conference record, 23-9 overall. She was named CSAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her career and has accumulated a 157-140 overall record. Student Athlete Natalie George was named CSAC Player of the Year.

In 2011, Neumann beat Marywood University in the CSAC semifinals in a dramatic five set fantastic finish, in which the Knights won the fifth and deciding set 15-12. In 2007 and 2008, Coach Jespersen led her team to two consecutive CSAC Championship Titles and NCAA Tournament Appearances.

Coach Jespersen has mentored many players, including Emilee Gruse (‘10) who was awarded the NCAA 2010-11 Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. At the end of the 2010 volleyball season, freshman Katelin Kuklentz was named the AVCA Region Freshman of the Year, as well as CSAC Rookie of the Year. Many players have received All-Conference honors during their time playing for Jespersen.

Jespersen is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and is the representative from the CSAC conference for the AVCA Head Coach’s committee. Additionally, she serves as a member of the AVCA All-Region selection committee. Coach Jespersen and her father co-direct a local volleyball club, Mystique Juniors. She has run various camps and clinics at Neumann University, as well as worked many volleyball camps at other universities and colleges.

Jespersen, a 1996 graduate of Elizabethtown College, was a three time Co-Captain and MVP of the Blue Jays. She also was a four year letter winner and was named to the Mid Atlantic All-Conference team in 1996. Coach Jespersen and her husband reside in Woolwich, N.J., and have two children, Dane and Bryn. She is employed full time as a School Psychologist for Springfield High School in Delaware County.