Keegan Cook - Volleyball Coach - University of Washington Athletics

Arizona

Sep 12 (Fri)

7:00 PM

Keegan Cook

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
washvb@uw.edu
Phone:
(206) 543-0432

Keegan Cook led the Husky Volleyball as Head Coach from January of 2015 through December 2022, and his eight seasons at the helm kept Washington among the nation's elite, graduating well-rounded student-athletes and competing for Pac-12 and NCAA titles.

Washington won four Pac-12 Championships in Cook's eight seasons. The Huskies made four trips to the NCAA Elite Eight under Cook, and made a thrilling run to the Final Four in the spring of 2021.

Twelve different Huskies have combined for 18 AVCA All-America honors under Cook, covering every position on the court, with a Pac-12 Player of the Year award for outside hitter Courtney Schwan and two Pac-12 Setter of the Year honors for Ella May Powell. The Huskies went 198-56 over Cook’s eight seasons with a league record of 119-41, a .743 winning percentage that ranks seventh-best among all coaches in Pac-12 history and first among UW coaches

Washington returned to the NCAA Championships for the eighth-straight season under Cook, and the 21st season overall, in 2022, in what turned out to be Cook's final year with the program. The Huskies dealt with multiple injuries throughout the season but still reached the 20-wins mark and went 12-8 in Pac-12 play. The Huskies had a first round tournament loss to TCU. Seniors Ella May Powell, Claire Hoffman, and Marin Grote were all named All-Pac-12 and All-Region one final time.

Cook’s seventh season in the fall of 2021 provided a second Pac-12 title in the span of one calendar year. Following quickly on the heels of the championship from the spring, Washington successfully defended its conference title with a 17-3 mark. That included a 17-1 finish after the Huskies lost their first two Pac-12 matches. Washington swept its way into the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in Cook’s seven seasons, but suffered a tough 3-2 loss in front of a sold out crowd at No. 2-seeded Texas in the regional semis.

The Huskies were the only team in the fall of 2021 to put four players on the top three AVCA All-America teams. Ella May Powell (3rd-team) got her third All-America honor, Claire Hoffman (3rd-team) and Samantha Drechsel (2nd-team) became two-time All-Americans, and middle blocker Marin Grote (2nd-team) earned her first distinction. Powell was Pac-12 Setter of the Year once again, and Cook earned a third Pacific North Region Coach of the Year honor.

2021 Pac-12 Champion Cook Bio

In the winter of spring of 2021, following the global pandemic, Washington showed its resiliency and the willingness of its players to grow and change. In spite of graduating a First Team All-American outside hitter and two more starters from the 2019 squad, the Huskies returned to the top of the Pac-12 with a 17-3 record, and then won three-straight five set matches in the NCAA tournament to make the Final Four for the first time in Cook's head coaching tenure, and the fifth time in UW history.

The resilient squad was the first team ever to make the Final Four by route of three consecutive 3-2 wins, including a comeback from 0-2 down in the Elite Eight to defeat Pittsburgh. The Huskies then battled eventual NCAA Champion Kentucky in a tough 3-1 semifinal match in Omaha, Neb. but came up just short of reaching the final. Washington ended the year ranked No. 4 by the AVCA, tied for the third-highest final ranking in program history.

Cook was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time in 2020-21, and AVCA Pacific North Coach of the Year for the second time. For the first time since 2006, the Huskies had two First Team All-Americans and a Second Team All-American. Ella May Powell, who also won Pac-12 Setter of the Year, was named to the First Team as was outside hitter Samantha Drechsel, and outside hitter Claire Hoffman earned Second Team distinction.

A third Elite Eight trip in five seasons came in 2019, when the Huskies knocked off SEC Champion Kentucky in the Sweet 16 before coming up just short at No. 1-ranked Baylor in the Elite Eight. Kara Bajema ascended to First Team All-America status in her senior season and broke the school record for most kills in a season with 597. A first-time All-America honoree was sophomore setter Ella May Powell, who was named to the Third Team. Half a dozen Huskies earned All-Pac-12 honors as Washington finished second in the Pac-12 with a 15-5 record, 27-7 overall.

The Huskies finished No. 6 in the final 2019 AVCA poll, one of three top-6 final rankings in Cook's six seasons. In addition to the win over the SEC Champs, the Huskies won the only meeting with Pac-12 and eventual NCAA Champion Stanford, beating the Cardinal in Maples Pavilion for the first time since 2007. The Huskies also had consecutive wins against NCAA runner-up Wisconsin, winning both ends of a home-and-away series to go 3-0 overall against the teams in the NCAA final.

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The 2018 season saw a young Huskies team come of age in the postseason, as Washington traveled for the opening weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2011, and came away with its biggest tournament upset since 2010 with a 3-0 sweep of No. 9-seed Creighton in front of a packed gym in Omaha to advance to the NCAA Round of 16.

Cook saw six players make their Husky debuts in 2018. Outside hitter Kara Bajema earned AVCA Third Team All-America honors and Ella May Powell was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team as she was the first freshman setter to play six rotations for UW since 2007.

Cook's third season in 2017 was complicated by multiple injuries throughout the year that caused the Huskies to use seventeen different starting lineups, and yet the Dawgs battled through the adversity to still tie for second in the Pac-12 with a 14-6 record. Washington earned the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, but was upset in a five set battle in the second round of the tournament by Illinois, finishing with a 25-8 record.

Cook turned to a pair of seniors when adversity struck in 2017 and the two responded with All-America seasons, the first such honors for both. Fifth-year senior Carly DeHoog emerged as the leader for the Huskies after a preseason injury knocked out returning All-American Crissy Jones. DeHoog essentially doubled her career totals entering the year during her senior campaign, leading the team in kills and earning AVCA All-America Third Team honors. The other big shift was senior Tia Scambray going from outside hitter to starting libero, and she shined in that role, earning All-America honorable mention.

DeHoog and senior Courtney Schwan were named to the All-Pac-12 Team, while Scambray, Crissy Jones, and freshman Lauren Sanders earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention. Sanders, who ranked among the Pac-12 and NCAA leaders in blocks, was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

After the tremendous success of his first season at the head of the bench, Cook had the year two challenge of replacing six seniors, including four starters and a pair of All-Americans. But the 2016 Huskies, without a single senior in the starting lineup, saw new leaders emerge and freshman starters grow into their roles, and Washington emerged from a grueling Pac-12 season on top of the standings once again with a 16-4 league record. It was the third Pac-12 title for the Huskies in Cook’s four years on staff.

The Huskies advanced through to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row, and at season’s end three Huskies earned AVCA All-America honors for the first time in their careers. Junior outside hitter Courtney Schwan was named to the First Team, and won Pac-12 Player of the Year honors, the fourth Husky to win that honor. Junior setter Bailey Tanner and junior opposite Crissy Jones each earned All-America Second Team distinction. Schwan, Jones, and Tanner were all named All-Pac-12 as well, with Kara Bajema named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

Only Washington and Texas had three All-Americans on the AVCA’s top two teams in 2016. With the All-America honors for 2015 seniors Lianna Sybeldon (middle blocker) and Cassie Strickland (libero), Cook had a Husky All-American at every position in just two seasons.

The first season under Cook saw the Huskies maintain their place among the nation’s elite, as the Dawgs claimed a share of the Pac-12 Championship and advanced to the Elite Eight, losing a close four-setter to eventual national champion Nebraska. The Huskies went 31-3 for a third consecutive thirty win season. The Dawgs went 18-2 in Pac-12 play for the third year in a row, sharing the conference title with USC for Washington's second Pac-12 title in three years. The 2016 Pac-12 title would make it three in the past four.

That Washington did not skip a beat was all the more impressive considering the Huskies had to replace 2014 grads Krista Vansant, the two-time Honda Award winner and two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, plus Third Team All-American outside hitter Kaleigh Nelson. Yet the Huskies led the Pac-12 and ranked second nationally with a .305 attack percentage, while senior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon ranked second in the NCAA with a .450 attack mark.

The senior class of 2015 comprised of Katy Beals, Kim Condie, Justice Magraw, Cassie Strickland, Lianna Sybeldon, and Melanie Wade finished with 117 career victories, setting a record for most career wins by any class. Cook, who was an assistant for two of those years and head coach for the final one, was thrilled to see them go out with a great run.

“There was always something right about staying with those kids, those six seniors and the other kids I had gotten to know,” Cook said after the season. “That’s why it’s so gratifying, why I feel so thankful. All those kids had a great year, every single one of them got better. Every single kid had career highs.”

Sybeldon headlined a long list of 2015 awards in Cook’s first season, as she earned First Team AVCA All-America honors, the first UW middle on the first team since 1997. Senior libero Cassie Strickland was an All-America honorable mention, and also became the first Husky in any sport to win the Senior CLASS Award. Tia Scambray, Crissy Jones, Melanie Wade, and Bailey Tanner were all All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Cook in his first year was named AVCA Pacific North Region Coach of the Year.

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In a whirlwind first year on staff as an assistant coach, Cook helped the Huskies advance to the 2013 Final Four indoors and then was named Head Coach of the new Beach Volleyball program which played its inaugural matches in April of 2014. That 2013 season produced the first Pac-12 Championship for the Huskies since 2005, and the first trip to the Final Four since 2006. The Huskies went 30-3 on the year.

Cook's second season saw the Huskies roll to a 25-0 record to start the season, the longest win streak in program history. The Huskies went 31-3, completing the program's first back-to-back 30-win seasons in the NCAA era (1981-present). With Cook's influence, the Huskies hit .311 as a team for the season, the second-best mark in program history and ranking fourth in the NCAA. Washington earned the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tourney and advanced to the round of 16.

Working with the Husky offense, specifically the setters and middle blockers, Cook helped produce big incremental improvements each year. The Huskies hit .251 in 2012, the year before Cook’s arrival, ranking 31st in the NCAA. In Cook’s first season the Huskies improved to .274 and 14th in the NCAA, and in 2014 UW hit .311 to finish fourth in the nation. That was the second-best mark in school history behind only the 2005 NCAA title team. The Huskies moved up again to second in the NCAA in 2015 with a .305 attack percentage.

Similar success came at St. Mary’s, where Cook got his coaching start. The Gaels ranked in the top-30 nationally in hitting percentage in three of Cook’s final four years on staff.

Cook’s teams have also consistently been among the best serving teams in the nation. Washington led the Pac-12 in service aces per set in each of Cook’s two years as an assistant coach, ranked second in 2015, then returned to the top of the Pac-12 by a wide margin in 2016, and led the league again in 2017. St. Mary’s led the West Coast Conference at the service line every year from 2009-12, improving from 191st in the NCAA in 2008 up to 20th in his final year in 2012.

In the spring of 2014, Washington made Sand Volleyball its 22nd varsity sport. Using the players on the indoor roster, Washington practiced throughout February and March, played its first scrimmage at Golden Gardens on the shores of Puget Sound, and the team made its debut with a brief two-match round robin event in Portland on April 12. The Huskies played their first full beach season in 2015, going 8-0 with wins over Pac-12 foes Stanford, California, and Oregon. Prior to the 2016 beach season, Cook handed the head coaching duties to Jonathan Winder, then an assistant coach for the indoor team.

Cook got his start in collegiate coaching at St. Mary's, first as a volunteer assistant, then a full-time assistant coach, eventually promoted to the top assistant for the Gaels. He spent eight years on the St. Mary's staff, six as assistant coach from 2007-12, helping the Gaels become one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference.

Over Cook's final five years at St. Mary's, the Gaels advanced to the NCAA Championships three times, including a trip to the second round in his last season in 2012. He helped lead the Gaels to their first West Coast Conference title in program history in 2009 and another NCAA second round appearance, falling just short of fourth-seeded Stanford in five sets.

A native of Pleasanton, Calif., Cook earned his Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary's in 2007, majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Religious Studies and has excelled in statistical analysis as a Volleyball Information Supervisor (VIS) for the FIVB. Additionally, Cook was the head coach of the NorCal Volleyball Club for ten years, with ten club teams under his guidance. All of Cook's teams qualified for the Junior Olympic Championships over his last five years and his 16-Under team won the 2008 Junior Olympic gold medal.

Cook has also stepped in to work with USA Volleyball in recent years. In 2016, he was the head coach for the U.S. Collegiate Women's National Team for its tour of China, and in the summer of 2018 Cook led the U.S. Junior Women's National Team to compete in the NORCECA Championships in Mexico. He was tabbed to lead the U.S. Girl's Youth National Team at the NORCECA Continental Championships in 2020 though the event would be canceled. In the summer of 2022, Cook was an assistant on the U.S. Girl's U19 Team that won gold at the Pan American Cup.

Cook married Sarah Ammerman in the spring of 2020. The couple welcomed their first child, Oliver, in 2021.