When Brian Gimmillaro announced his retirement in June, Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer and Matt Fuerbringer had a tough decision that could have impacted their future as a couple; who would chase after the newly-opened Long Beach State women’s volleyball coach position.
McKienzie-Fuerbringer and her husband decided that she would be the better fit to lead the program due to her coaching experience. She will now the new head coach of the LBSU women’s volleyball program, where her predecessor reigned for 32 years.
“I’m very excited and humbled,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “I don’t think there is replacing a coach like Brian. We are hoping to do our best and continue the strong foundation, and I feel very privileged to be a part of it.”
Decades ago, Gimmillaro recruited the eventual All-American setter for the 49ers. She would eventually help the program to its second national championship in 1993 as a senior.
With help from Gimmillaro, McKienzie-Fuerbringer started the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball club back in 1995. As director and head coach of the club, McKienzie-Fuerbringer implemented the same techniques and systems that her former head coach used at LBSU. Under McKienzie-Fuerbringer’s guidance, the club consistently stayed among the top 25 teams in the nation.
After building up the Mizuno program, McKienzie-Fuerbringer became an assistant coach at Golden West College, where she helped guide the Rustlers to a pair of back-to-back state championships in 1997-98. She returned to Long Beach State as an assistant under Gimmillaro for two years in 1999-2001. After the gig at LBSU, she spent four seasons as an assistant coach with UCLA from 2010-14, winning a National Championship with the Bruins in 2011.
“We are all working together in building a culture,” assistant coach Fuerbringer said. “That culture takes a lot of hard work, dedication, togetherness and toughness to build something that can be great and it’s not easy being great at something.”
McKienzie-Fuerbringer’s biggest goal is to lift the program from good to great. To get there, she’s focused on the team’s movement and blocking on the offense. With only a few practices under their belts, the team has already started accepting the new system.
“I’m excited to be implementing our coaching staff’s system into the program,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “To develop that and see how that evolves and where we can take it.”
With the women’s volleyball team claiming its most recent Big West title in 2014, McKienzie-Fuerbringer believes Gimmallaro’s recruiting class can make an impact this season. Transfer senior setter Alexis Patterson, freshman outside hitter Monika Simkova and transfer junior outside hitter Emma Kirst are all set to have roles in the year.
“I think Brian did a great job in recruiting a great group of women,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “It’s been a transition for everyone and it seems that everyone is onboard to learn together.”
In the first year under McKienzie-Fuerbringer and her staff, the 49ers will look for learning moments in the upcoming regular season games to prepare them for the Big West Conference. LBSU won’t have much time to do that as it starts the conference on Sept. 19 against UC Riverside.
Big mistake.