WICHITA, Kan. – Head coach Chris Lamb and the Wichita State volleyball program have announced the addition of assistant coach Brian Hosfeld and director of operations Ashleigh Houlton to the coaching staff.

Hosfeld joins Katie Zimmerman as an assistant on Lamb’s staff, while Houlton replaces Shannon Lamb, who announced she is stepping away from the program due to health issues.

Hosfeld brings more than three decades of coaching experience to Wichita, highlighted by a stint as the head coach at Baylor and assistant coaching positions at Long Beach State, Texas, and Utah. The Long Beach, Calif., native has been working at the club level for the last ten years, most recently for T3 Volleyball in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

“Brian has a really impressive resume as a club guy, a camp guy, and a college guy. He’s done it all,” Lamb said. “He was front and center with the defensive revolution at Long Beach State, then from there to Baylor and Texas. He’s been in the deep water, and knows volleyball inside and out. He’s a friendly, fun person to be around, and our players and community are going to love him.”

Hosfeld began his career at Long Beach State in 1993, winning the national championship in his first season with the 49ers. After three seasons at Long Beach, he took over the Baylor program in 1996, leaving eight years later as the winningest coach in program history with 129 victories to his credit. Under his direction, Baylor made their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 1999, later reaching the field of 64 again in 2001.

Following his tenure in Waco, Hosfeld joined the staff at Texas in 2004, working primarily with the Longhorns defense and middle blockers. He helped craft one of the stingiest defensive units in college volleyball, as Texas won three consecutive Big 12 titles and reached the Final Four in 2008, 2009 and 2010. While on staff with the Longhorns, Texas posted a record of 186-33, good for an .849 winning percentage.

Hosfeld has also coached at the international level, leading the 2005 USA Volleyball A2 junior national team and USA Volleyball to a silver medal at the 1997 World University Games in Sicily, Italy. Prior to his work with that team, Hosfeld served as USA Volleyball’s director of the World University and National Team tryouts at the Olympic Training Center.

Hosfeld’s most recent collegiate coaching experience came as an interim assistant coach at Utah, where he spent the 2011 season before transitioning full time to club volleyball. He helped found nationally recognized Magnum Volleyball in 1986 and has since worked with Austin Juniors, Club Red, Arizona East Valley, Spiral and Catalyst before taking over as director of T3 in Coeur d’Alene.

Houlton comes to the Shockers after coaching positions with Club Cactus Juniors Volleyball and Ironwood Ridge High School in Tucson, Arizona. She served as a National Team Coach for CCJ, and as both men’s volleyball coach and women’s volleyball assistant coach at Ironwood Ridge.

“Ashleigh came very highly recommended to me by several people I trust within the industry,” Lamb said. “She’s a detail-oriented person with a great attitude who is willing to put in the hours to make Shocker Volleyball better. Those are the kind of people we’re looking to add here.”

A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Houlton played collegiately at Pacific Lutheran University as a defensive specialist, then served as an assistant coach at her alma mater for four seasons. She also coached for Puyallup Juniors and Kent Juniors from 2004-2008 while coaching and playing at PLU.

Houlton brings international coaching experience to Shocker volleyball, having coached and taught physical education in the Asian Pacific Activities Conference League in South Korea from 2009 through 2015 before moving to Tucson.

The Shockers open the 2022 season on August 26 at Wyoming, with the home opener scheduled for September 23. For information on season tickets, visit goshockers.com/tickets or call 978-FANS.