Lynze Roos

Head Coach

Lynze Roos enters her ninth season as head coach of the Wofford volleyball team in 2023. She was named the seventh head coach of the program on July 8, 2015 after spending the previous nine seasons (2006-14) as the head coach at Lynn University.

In the 2022 Season, Wofford finished 16-13 with an 8-8 Southern Conference record. The Terriers entered the SoCon Tournament as the No. 5 seed but fell in the first round. Wofford was again tough at home, going 9-5 in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Wofford hosted two non-conference tournaments for the first time, the Wofford Invitational and the inaugural Terrier Invite. Roos led her squad to win a pair of non-conference tournaments, the CofC Classic hosted by College of Charleston and Wofford's own Terrier Invite. For a second-straight season, three Terriers garnered All-Southern Conference recognition, with Sarah Barham and Millie Loehr being named to the second team and Victoria Hensley earning an All-Freshman Team nod. Barham led the league in blocks per set (1.11), and Loehr topped the conference in hitting percentage (.391), which set a new single-season Wofford program record. The Terriers led the SoCon in opponent hitting percetnage (.182) and finished second in the league in assists per set (11.92), blocks per set (2.23), hitting percentage (.226) and kills per set (13.01).

In the 2021 season, Roos’ squad continued to climb. Wofford finished 17-14 overall and 9-7 in Southern Conference play. As the No. 4 seed, the Terriers reached the Southern Conference Championship for the first time since 2017, finishing as the runners-up. The 17 overall wins are the most since that 2017 campaign. The fourth seed tied for the best in program history, and the Terriers finished tied for third in the standings, the highest regular-season finished in program history under Roos. Wofford remained stout at home, posting a 9-2 clip in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Three Terriers garnered All-Southern Conference recognition, with Sarah Barham and Emily Hodsdon being selected to the Second Team and Sarah MacLean earning an All-Freshman nod. MacLean led the league in hitting percentage at .320. Barham set a single-season program record for blocks with 138 in the campaign. Hodsdon was the team’s assist leader, finishing with 1,149. As a team, Wofford ranked second in the conference in blocks per set (2.23), hitting percentage (.214), assists (1,313), kills (1,443) and blocks (259).

In the 2020-21 adjusted season, due to result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wofford finished 10-7 overall and 10-6 in the Southern Conference, matching a program record for conference wins (10) set by Roos' 2017 squad. Despite the challenges of COVID-19 postponing and/or canceling matches around the league and country, the Terriers continued its dominance in Jerry Richardson indoor Stadium, compiling a 7-1 mark at home in competing a conference-only schedule. Additionally, the Terriers matched its highest seeding for the Southern Conference Championships, slotted as the No. 4 seed, though, coming up just short to top-seeded Samford in the semifinals at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. - the site of the 2020-21 SoCon Championships. Under Roos' guidance, Wofford tallied four All-SoCon honors for the first time since 2016, as Riley Coonan (First Team), Sarah Barham (Second Team, All-Freshman) and Emily Hodsdon (All-Freshman) nabbed all-conference recognition for the 2020-21 season. Barham led the league with a .357 hitting percentage, as Coonan finished third in the conference for the category (.313) while Hodsdon also finished third in the SoCon for assists (9.88/s). Additionally, Coonan, who finished her Wofford career fifth all-time in program history for blocks (314) and led the team in kills (181), marked the first Terrier to garner AVCA East Coast All-Region Honorable Mention accolades, in addition to being named to the All-SoCon Tournament Team. As a team, Roos led the Terriers to lead the SoCon in blocks (2.42/s), while finishing second in the conference for opponent hitting percentage (.173).

In 2019, Wofford was 15-16 overall, going 8-8 in a competitive Southern Conference. The Terriers were dominant at home, going 10-2 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, the site of the 2019 SoCon Championship. Wofford earned the No. 4 seed for the SoCon Championship, falling in the quarterfinals. Roos and her staff coached three all-conference players in Riley Coonan, Catie Cronister and Megan Yaffa. Cronister, the program's all-time leader in kills with 1,735, sent home 390 to go with a career-high 49 assists en route to All-SoCon Second Team Honors. Coonan, also a member of the All-SoCon Second Team, led the league in hitting percentage (.360) and blocks per set (1.18) while sending home 269 kills. Yaffa, a redshirt freshman, ranked third on the team with 250 kills, 39.0 blocks and 37 aces, being named to the All-Freshman squad.

In 2018, the Terriers grabbed the No. 5 seed in the Southern Conference tournament, finishing the regular season 14-16 overall, going 7-9 in conference play. Wofford was extremely tough at home, posting a record of 8-2 overall, going 6-2 in conference play. Roos' fourth season marked the inaugural Wofford Invitational on the main court in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in which the Terriers defeated Gardner-Webb and Middle Tennessee State. Wofford ranked second in the SoCon in blocks (216) and service aces per set (1.34), ranking in the top five in digs, kills, assists and hitting percentage. Roos guided a pair of players to milestones in 2018, as Catie Cronister became the program's all-time kills leader (1,345) and Taylor Gill surpassed 1,000 digs in just two seasons at Wofford, totaling 1,176.

In 2017, Roos' third season, Wofford reached unprecedented heights. Roos guided the Terriers, who entered the season having never advanced out of the quarterfinals, to the Southern Conference championship. The team finished the season with a 22-11 record, Wofford's most win in the Division I era, and a 10-6 conference record, also a best in Wofford's DI era. Roos also saw outside hitter Catie Cronister named Co-Player of the Year, while Colleen Reilly joined her on the First-Team for the second straight year and Riley Coonan was honored as an All-Freshman selection.

In her second season, Roos led the Terriers to a 17-15 mark and a 9-7 ledger in Southern Conference play. The nine conference wins were the most by a Wofford team in program history and the 9-7 mark was the first time the Terriers finished conference play with a winning record. Wofford earned a 3-0 sweep over Furman, handing the Paladins their first loss in Alley Gym in two years.

Roos' players also earned many individual accomplishments. For the first time in program history, Wofford had a player named First-Team All-SoCon (Colleen Reilly) and a player named Freshman of the Year (Catie Cronister). Cronister was also a Second Team selection while Kara Shacklette was chosen to the All-Freshman Team, giving Wofford three conference honors for the first time.

In her first season, Roos guided the Terriers to 16 wins – the team’s most since 2009 – and a sixth-place finish in the Southern Conference standings – the team’s best in its 18 years in the conference. Wofford rolled off five consecutive victories for the first time since 2012, which included a perfect 4-0 record to win the JSU Gamecock Invitational. The Terriers earned 3-0 sweeps over defending Southern Conference Tournament champion Samford and defending regular season champion Furman. The 2015 campaign also witnessed Wofford come back from two sets down to win twice, something the Terriers had not accomplished once since 2009. Wofford put together an 8-2 record through a 10-game stretch in October and finished the season with a 6-3 (.667) record at home, its highest home winning percentage since going 10-4 (.714) in 1992.

Roos’ first season also saw some great individual accomplishments. Setter Molly Mayo broke the program’s single-season assists record with 1,334, surpassing Rhea DeJesus’s previous mark of 1,332 from 2004. Senior libero Jessica Graham posted 605 digs – second-most in program history – and broke the school record for career digs by nearly 300, finishing with 1,921. Freshman Colleen Reilly etched her name in the record books in total blocks (123), block assists (107) and blocks per set (1.05), taking the No. 3 spot in both total blocks and blocks per set, while claiming a new single-season record in block assists. Outside hitter Bella Santoro posted 364 kills to enter Wofford’s top-10 for a single season and middle Danni Densford hit .320 to record the second-highest attack percentage in program history. Densford’s season also included a match in which she hit .846 (11-0-13) against Alcorn State, which went down as the highest single-match attack percentage in team history (min. 10 kills).

Roos left Lynn University as the most accomplished and winningest coach in program history. Prior to her arrival, Lynn's volleyball program had won only 89 games in 10 years with only one winning season. Roos transformed the program and left with a 164-119 overall mark, 66-78 record in Sunshine State Conference play, eight winning seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances in nine years.

Lynn had its breakout season in 2007, Roos' second year on the job. The Fighting Knights reached the postseason for the first time in program history, tying what was then the program record with 22 wins. Lynn advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA South Region Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Eckerd before falling 3-2 to top-seeded and second-ranked defending national champions, Tampa, in five sets.

The Blue & White would go on to claim 20 wins in each of the next three seasons while making trips to the NCAA Tournament along the way. Roos' 2008 squad set a record for wins in a season with 24 while the 2010 team, the last to qualify for the postseason, tallied a program-best 11 victories in SSC competition. Roos also owns 66 of the school's 81 conference wins.

Roos has also demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence. For eight straight seasons, the Lynn volleyball team earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. In 2013-14, the volleyball team posted the highest team GPA out of Lynn’s 14 athletic teams with a 3.81 cumulative grade point average.

Prior to Lynn, Roos served as the assistant volleyball coach on the staff of fellow Southern Conference member Samford University for two years. She arrived at Samford after a three-year tenure with Pike High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. At Pike, she was the head volleyball coach and led her team to three top-four finishes in the conference, as well as a sectional final. She also worked with the Pike Youth League, the Pike Fire Volleyball Club, and the Indy Select Volleyball Club from 2001-04 and started the Central Indiana Summer Volleyball League for high school programs.

As a collegian, Roos was an exemplary student-athlete. While an undergraduate student at Butler University, she was named to the dean's list for eight consecutive semesters, was a four-time NCAA District 12 All-Academic Team member and was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board. Roos was named the 2001 Future Educator of the Year by the Butler Secondary Education Department and was selected as one of Butler's Top 100 Seniors.

On the court, Roos was equally impressive. As a freshman, Roos was named to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference All-Newcomer Team. She was also named a second-team all-conference performer in 1998 and 2000 and was picked to the MCC All-Tournament Team in 2000. She ended her playing career in Butler's top 10 in five categories and was named to Butler's Top 25 players in the first 25 years of the program.

Roos graduated from Butler University in 2001 as a double-major in English and education. She married Matt Roos on December 18, 2004. The couple has two children - a son, Loren, and a daughter, Lyle.