Russ Friedland joined the Missouri State staff in March 2020 as associate head coach. He was also head beach volleyball coach during the 2021 season.
Friedland has coached eight all-Missouri Valley Conference selections in four seasons with the program and helped the Bears to the top four ace averages for the program in the 25-point scoring era. Additionally, at least one player each season and nine total have earned MVC Scholar-Athlete honors for their work in the classroom.
In 2023, Missouri State closed the season strong with wins in seven of its final 11 matches, including a first-round victory in the MVC Tournament. Maddy Bushnell and Azyah Green both earned second-team all-MVC honors, and Green ended her career ranked fourth in school history in total blocks. As a team, the Bears ranked 11th nationally in total digs, finishing 32nd or better for the third time in four years. Additionally, four MoState players earned both MVC Scholar-Athlete and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.
The 2022 Bears placed four players on the CSC Academic All-District team, two on MVC Scholar-Athlete teams,while Manuela Ibarguen was a first-team all-MVC selection in addition to earning both academic awards. In 2021, Amelia Flynn repeated on the all-MVC First Team while Bushnell led the conference with a .343 attack efficiency, the best-ever for an MSU freshman.
The 2020-21 Bears tied for second in the MVC standings and ranked among the national leaders in total aces (sixth), digs (10th), assists (22nd), blocks (24th) and kills (26th), and first-team all-Valley selections Brooklyn Cink and Amelia Flynn each finished in the top 21 nationally in total kills and points.
Doubling as Missouri State’s head beach volleyball coach in 2021, Friedland helped the Beach Bears reach new heights as the team set numerous school and individual records on its way to a 7-8 overall record. In the No. 2 flight, Grace Cook and Chloe Tome set the single season wins record by going 12-3 with wins over ranked duos from Arizona and LSU. Kylee Davis became the winningest player in program history as she finished the season with 23 career wins. All five pairs posted single season records that are in the top-ten all-time. The 2021 squad’s .467 winning percentage ranked second in program history.
Prior to coming to Missouri State, Friedland spent one season at Ole Miss under Coach McRoberts, where he worked primarily with setters and middles, helped the Rebels tie a school record with a 14-match win streak, saw a school-record six players win all-SEC weekly honors, and coached a pair of AVCA All-Region selections.
Friedland was the Director of Volleyball at Louisiana Monroe from January 2018 to July 2019, serving as head coach to both the indoor and beach volleyball teams. He helped the Warhawks’ indoor team significantly increase their overall and conference win totals from the year before and jump 53 spots in the NCAA RPI.
On the sand, Friedland led the Warhawks to 18 wins in 2019, doubling their total from the year prior. ULM ended the 2019 season ranked 23rd in the AVCA Coaches Poll and qualified the No. 3 pair for the Collegiate Beach National Championships. In both years leading ULM Beach, Friedland had a pair earn the AVCA Top Flight award while helping Cat Griffith become the program’s all-time wins leader with 71 career victories.
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Prior to his stint in Monroe, Friedland played a key role in turning around a struggling East Carolina program during his two seasons, assisting the Pirates to a school-record 13 conference wins in 2017 on the way to the first 20-win season since 2005.
Friedland spent the 2013-15 seasons as an assistant at UNLV, where he aided the Rebels to single-season records for overall and conference wins at 26 and 14, respectively, in 2014, and nearly 60 victories over his three seasons.
Friedland has additional coaching stops as a volunteer assistant at Tennessee in 2012, with assistant jobs at Howard, George Washington and American, and a stint as the men’s and women’s head coach at Daniel Webster College.
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Originally from Mansfield, Conn., Friedland earned both his bachelor’s (2005) and Master’s (2006) degrees from Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., where he lettered all four years in men’s volleyball.
