Eric Viney
Head Volleyball Coach
Defiance College ’02
erviney@dwu.edu
605-995-2855

After a positive rookie campaign as the Dakota Wesleyan University head volleyball coach, Eric Viney enters his second season with higher aspirations and the potential to continue to make strides in the always-competitive Great Plains Athletic Conference.

During Viney’s first season with the Tigers, DWU won nearly twice as many games as it did the previous season. The Tigers were 13-22 in 2008-09, including a 3-13 mark and a tie for 10th place in the GPAC. Some highlights from Viney’s rookie season include two wins at both the Oklahoma City Tournament and the College of St. Mary Tournament, and a four-match winning streak from Sept. 26 through Oct. 4, where the Tigers beat York College, Dakota State University and Midland Lutheran College all by the score 3-0. DWU also had a thrilling 3-2 win over Dana College, won an exciting 3-2 home match over the University of Sioux Falls and scored a 3-0 victory over York College at Mitchell High School on Oct. 18 as part of a Dig Pink cancer awareness event.

Viney had two players – seniors Dena Kopfmann (second team) and Maria Wieneke (honorable mention) earn All-GPAC accolades, and Kopfmann also earned GPAC Player-of-the-Week honors. Under Viney’s direction as seniors, Kopfmann became DWU’s all-time leader in digs (1,785), and Wieneke surpassed 1,000 career kills (1,171).

Before joining the Tigers, Viney was the head volleyball coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University for two years. The two years before that, Viney was a graduate assistant at North Dakota State University.

Viney also spent two seasons coaching at Marietta College (Ohio). In 2002, he was hired as an assistant volleyball coach at the school. He took over head coaching duties in 2003 and found immediate success. Marietta finished 18-13 that season and recorded the school’s first win in the Ohio Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament since 1987. For his performance, Viney was named the OAC’s Coach of the Year.

He got his start in coaching as a student at Defiance College (Ohio), where he served as a student assistant coach for the women’s volleyball teams during his junior and senior seasons. Viney graduated from Defiance in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in sport management and a minor in marketing.

Volleyball has been a constant for Viney throughout his life. His father was an alternate for the Men’s USA National Team in the 1980s, and his mother was the head girls’ volleyball coach at Carroll High School (Ohio), where she also started a boys’ program.

Viney came to South Dakota with ties to the state. His wife, Sigourney, is a Redfield, S.D., native. They live in Mitchell.

Kelsie Nebelsick
Assistant Volleyball Coach

Kelsie Nebelsick enters her second year as a DWU assistant coach following a two-year playing career for the Tigers on the right side and as a setter. Head coach Eric Viney will use Nebelsick as his top assistant again this season.

Last season, Nebelsick helped guide the Tigers to a 13-22 overall record, which was six wins better than the team’s finish the previous season. She assists Viney with all aspects of coaching the team including strategy and game planning.

Nebelsick was an All-Conference and Academic All-State selection for nearby Canistota High School, and she finished her prep career with 722 assists.

An athletic training major, Nebelsick is in her fourth year as a Dakota Wesleyan student. She plans to graduate in May. This stint at DWU is her first experience coaching volleyball.

Dena Kopfmann
Assistant Volleyball Coach

Dena Kopfmann joins the DWU volleyball coaching staff following her decorated four-year career with the Tigers. Kopfmann will primarily work with the team’s defense, and her serving expertise will be valuable to Eric Viney’s staff.

At Dakota Wesleyan, Kopfmann was a three-time All-GPAC selection, earning Honorable Mention honors twice and Second Team honors as a senior in 2008. Kopfmann graduated as DWU’s all-time digs leader with 1,785 to go along with 263 ace serves. As a senior, she played in all 36 matches, recording 610 digs and 66 ace serves. She received the GPAC Volleyball Defensive Player-of-the-Week award during her senior year and she was a team captain.

A Minneota, Minn., native, Kopfmann graduated from DWU in May with a degree in nursing. She currently works as a nurse at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. This is her first experience coaching volleyball.

Julie Givan
Assistant Volleyball Coach

Julie Givan enters her first season as an assistant volleyball coach at Dakota Wesleyan following her two-year playing career with the Tigers. Givan’s addition gives Eric Viney’s staff a very good technical teacher.

Givan appeared in 90 games as a junior and 88 as a senior for the Tigers. She recorded 282 digs and 124 kills over her two seasons at Dakota Wesleyan, and she served as a team captain as a senior. Prior to DWU, Givan spent two years at Trinidad State Junior College where she recorded 248 kills, 99 solo blocks and 36 ace serves in two seasons.

A Falcon, Colo., native, Givan received a degree in nursing from Dakota Wesleyan in May. She currently works as a nurse at Firesteel Health Care Center in Mitchell. This is her first experience coaching volleyball.