Following a tumultuous 2024 season, the volleyball team is moving forward with a new head coach. CJ Werneke, who previously served as the associate head coach at Binghamton University, was named the next head coach of Lafayette College volleyball on May 23.
“I’m very excited, grateful and honored,” Werneke said. “What it means to me is an opportunity to elevate the program with our current players and see what we’re capable of.”
The team’s previous head coach, Christian Kiselica, resigned almost two months ago, with Werneke’s hiring concluding the search for the program’s next leader.
“CJ emerged from a deep applicant pool and brings a wealth of experience,” Director of Athletics Sherryta Freeman said in a statement for GoLeopards.
In addition to the past few years at Binghamton, Werneke’s career included stops at Columbia University, Rutgers University and Fairfield University, reaching nearly three decades of collegiate coaching experience.
Werneke’s longest stretch came at Rutgers from 2008 to 2019 during the program’s move from the Big East Conference to the American Athletic Conference and then to the Big Ten.
“Building programs, transforming programs into better programs, he has experience at a high level, which will definitely translate to our training,” rising sophomore outside hitter Destiny McKenzie said. “I feel like him having that Big Ten experience with bigger programs, more competition, it’ll just translate really well with us and have us compete better.”
With the Leopards coming off a 7-18 season, including a 2-14 record in Patriot League play and a losing streak in the double-digits, Werneke said that he would be looking to empower his players.
“When you give players a sense of purpose and value, I think that’s when you get the most out of them,” Werneke said.
McKenzie noted that Werneke had been setting up phone calls to get to know the team over the summer.
“For me personally, I was looking for a coach who could create an environment, a very competitive environment for not just me, but for the whole team,” McKenzie said. “Someone who could push us, who could drive us in a positive direction.”
In addition to the technical skill development, Werneke noted that he would be looking to foster a team of “intrinsically motivated” workers.
“You gotta have a lot of intangibles and a lot of emotion to play this sport,” he said. “The style of play is going to be fast and precise, we’re going to play with a lot of efficiency and then defensively, it’s all about heart and will.”
Looking towards the future of the program, Werneke cited recruitment as another method to bring out the “intangibles,” looking for leadership qualities outside of athletic skillset.
“The coach I am today wasn’t the coach I was at Fairfield at 28 years old, full of brim and vigor,” Werneke said. “Now, I’m a little bit more mature, know who I am, what I want, what the environment is, how to run a program successfully rather than just with energy.”
Philip LaBella, the director of athletic communications, declined to comment on behalf of Freeman.