Brett Anema promoted to associate head coach for Liberty Volleyball

Liberty third-year head volleyball coach Trevor Johnson has announced the promotion of Brett Anema from assistant coach to his current position as associate head coach/recruiting coordinator.

“I am thrilled to say that Brett Anema has been promoted to Associate Head Coach,” Johnson said. “He has been here since I first arrived on campus, having followed me from Texas A&M. We have improved little by little each year, and we look to improve this year as well. He understands the uniqueness of recruiting top-level student athletes to Liberty University. He shares the same vision with me about making this the greatest Christian volleyball experience in the country! Like me, he wants to win the ASUN yearly and make deep runs in the NCAA tournament. He relates extremely well with young people. He is very organized, and he is very professional in all aspects of his job. He wants to be the best assistant coach in the country. We are thrilled to have Brett on staff with us! Go Flames!”

Anema enters his third year on Johnson’s coaching staff, helping guide the Lady Flames to a 36-29 combined overall record and 21-11 ASUN mark in the last two seasons.

Serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator, he has been instrumental in Liberty’s recruiting efforts, which have produced two of the top recruiting classes in program history. The 2019 incoming freshmen class was given High Honorable Mention among PrepVolleyball.com’s list of top recruiting classes. The Class of 2020 received Highest Honorable Mention from PrepVolleyball.com, ranking in the Top 60 nationally.

Working with the middle blockers and blocking systems, Anema has helped the Lady Flames rank among the nation’s top blocking teams. Last year, Liberty ranked 24^th in the nation with 2.61 blocks per set while setting a new program single-season record with 315.5 team blocks.

The 2019 Lady Flames posted their first 20-win season since 2014, going 21-12 overall. The Lady Flame also made their first postseason appearance since 2012, winning two matches in the Postseason NIVC and advancing to the quarterfinals. Liberty featured three players (Kailey Macy, Anna Gragg, Casey Goodwin) who posted 100 or more blocks on the season. Gragg set a program single-season record for hitting percentage (.378) while earning all-conference honors for the fourth time.

In 2018, Anema helped guide Liberty to a successful first season in the ASUN Conference, as Liberty finished 10-6 in conference play and 15-17 overall. Liberty placed two middle blockers, Anna Gragg and Kainah Williams, on the 2018 ASUN All-Conference Team.

Anema, an accomplished player and coach, came to Liberty after spending the 2017 season serving as a volunteer assistant coach on Laurie Corbelli’s staff at Texas A&M. While there, he coached alongside current Liberty Head Coach Trevor Johnson, who was an assistant coach for the Aggies.