Kyle Breitbarth Returns to Sun Devil Volleyball

TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil Volleyball is welcoming back a familiar face to the coaching staff as Kyle Breitbarth is coming back to Tempe as the new assistant coach.
 
"It's awesome to have Kyle back in the gym and in Sun Devil Family," Arizona State Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic. "He is someone our whole staff and many of the players are very familiar with and enjoy working with. During his time as a volunteer with us, we realized fast that Kyle's work ethic is unmatched and his commitment to growing and learning is always there. Welcome back home, KB!"
 
Breitbarth was with Arizona State from 2017-19 as the volunteer assistant coach. In his one season away from the Sun Devils, he was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Columbia University in New York. The Lions, however, did not play a season in 2020-21. While on Morningside, Breibarth spent time working with the defense and assisting with video duties and recruiting.
 
"I couldn't be more excited to return to Tempe to rejoin Sanja Tomasevic and the rest of the staff here at Arizona State," Breitbarth said. "I would like to thank AD Ray Anderson, SWA Christina Wombacher and SR Associate AD Graham Rossini for providing me with this amazing opportunity. I'm ecstatic to be back in the Pac-12 and can't wait to get to work!"
 
Breitbarth helped the Sun Devils secure an eighth-place finish in the conference in 2019, the teams highest since 2015. His primary duties with ASU included working with the liberos and defensive unit, reviewing film with those players throughout each week. He was also completely in charge of opponent scouting reports for the Sun Devils throughout the season and helped facilitate and run pre-game film sessions. 
 
In 2019, Breitbarth had a few experiences with other volleyball programs before returning to Arizona State that season. He served as the volunteer assistant at Kansas State University during the final weeks of the Spring 2019 season where he worked with the liberos and defensive unit. During April of 2019, Breitbarth went back and helped the University of Illinois, his alma mater, serving as the head coach of the men's volleyball team. He helped lead the Illini to the NCVF Division I National Championship match where they fell in 3 sets to Cal Poly. 

Through the ASU Global Launch program, Breitbarth helped co-lead a 13-week curriculum with over 20 university-level coaches from China. Throughout this program, he helped instruct these coaches with on-court instruction sessions as well as classroom time where topics such as recruiting, scheduling strategy, film review, etc. were gone over. He also was responsible for creating Data Volley worksheets to aid the staff to make in-game and practice strategic decisions. Furthermore, Breitbarth served as the 2018 Camp Director for Sun Devil Volleyball Camps.

Before arriving in Tempe, Breitbarth spent one season as the volunteer assistant at Loyola University Chicago under the direction of head coach Chris Muscat. During his one-year tenure at Loyola (Ill.), he served the program in a number of facets including scouting analysis, skill development, live coding and travel logistics. Prior to his stint at Loyola, Breitbarth accumulated coaching experience at the prep level, coaching at Champaign Central High School and Edison Middle School in Champaign, Illinois from 2013-16.
 
Prior to entering coaching, Breitbarth competed as a member of the University of Illinois men's club volleyball team from 2010-16. His collegiate career donning the Illini blue and orange culminated in a NCVF National Championship in 2013. 
 
Breitbarth earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism in 2014, while also recently earning a master's of education degree in 2016 respectively from the University of Illinois. A native of Frankfort, Ill., Breitbarth prepped at Providence Catholic High School