Shawn Patchell has served as head coach of the Concordia University Irvine men’s volleyball program since June 2013. During that time, Patchell has helped elevate the program as CUI moved up from NAIA to NCAA Division II status.
Since joining the MPSF in 2018, Patchell's teams at Concordia have earned national rankings, collected landmark victories over ranked teams and established CUI as a team that competes at the highest level against opponents from Division I schools. Patchell enters the 2020-21 school year with a 115-84 overall record as head coach at Concordia. The men's volleyball program is also one of the few teams on campus that consistently plays against schools from NCAA Division I due to its membership in the MPSF.
During the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Patchell's Eagles claimed four victories over ranked teams, including statement wins over No. 7 UC Irvine and No. 8 Grand Canyon in a span of 48 hours. CUI also took down No. 13 CSUN and No. 15 UC San Diego, and swept the season series against USC for the second time in three years. Patchell's Eagles even earned a 3-0 sweep at USC's arena for the first time in school history. By mid-March, CUI had won five straight games on its home floor before the season was abruptly halted for health and safety precautions. Raymond Barsemian led the entire MPSF in kills, became CUI's first player to be named First Team All-MPSF, and was recognized as one of Concordia's two Male Athletes of the Year when the 2020 Senior Awards were announced. Barsemian and libero Addison Enriques garnered AVCA All-American Honorable Mention while Jordan Hoppe and Enriques also joined Barsemian with All-MPSF honors.
In the 2019 season, the Eagles claimed 14 victories and went 12-4 at home, including a historic win over No. 5 ranked UC Irvine. That victory over the Anteaters was also career win No. 100 for Patchell at Concordia. That season, Patchell had the honor of coaching four members that made All-MPSF Honorable Mention, and Hunter Howell was named the Male Athlete of the Year at Concordia at the 2019 Senior Awards Banquet.
In 2018, CUI defeated BYU, Stanford USC and Grand Canyon University for the first time in school history in its inaugural season as a member of the MPSF. The Eagles even hosted their first MPSF playoff game and defeated GCU again to advance to the MPSF semifinals.
In his first season, Patchell led Concordia to a 28-8 record, second-straight NAIA National Conference Championship, and a runner-up finish at the NAIA National Invitational. He was voted NAIA National Conference Coach of the Year and coached two NAIA All-Americans. In 2015 the Eagles went 15-13 and 9-0 at home. He has coached two conference players of the year, eight All-Conference selections, and three All-Americans.
In 2016, he led the Eagles to a 30-match home win streak and wins over Grand Canyon and Princeton. In 2017, the Eagles went 18-12 with an eight game winning streak that included wins over CBU and UC Santa Barbara.
Concordia entered the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2018 and was voted to finish seventh by the coaches in the MPSF Preseason Poll. Patchell guided his teams to a 16-15 overall record and 5-7 conference record which included wins over BYU, CSUN, Grand Canyon, Loyola-Chicago, Stanford, and USC. Four members earned recognition from the MPSF while one player was named CUI's first AVCA All-American. The team advanced to the MPSF Semifinals and hosted the quarterfinal match for the first time.
Patchell came from NCAA DIII Marymount University in Arlington, VA, where he was the head coach since July of 2012. Prior to Marymount, he was the head coach at NCAA DI powerhouse Brigham Young University in Provo, UT from 2006-2010. He was an assistant with the Cougars from 2002-2006. BYU won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2003 and 2004, and were NCAA National Champions in 2004.
Patchell began his coaching career in 1994 as an assistant coach at Irvine High School, and was the head coach at Laguna Beach High School from 1997-2002. His boys’ team won the Pacific Coast League in 1997 and 1998, and the girls won the conference in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001. Patchell’s collegiate coaching career began in 1995 as a graduate assistant at UC Irvine.
Patchell’s involvement with USA Volleyball is extensive as well. He was the head coach of the Men’s National Team in the spring of 2012 at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic where they won the gold medal and he was a trainer/consultant at the World League competition in Anaheim. He worked as an assistant with the Men’s National Team in 2011 and 2010. He was the head coach of the Boy’s Junior National Team in 2009 and head coach of the Boy’s Youth National Team in 2008, where they took a bronze medal at the NORCECA Zone Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador. He coached the Pan Am team again in 2013 in Mexico City.
A member of BYU’s first NCAA men’s volleyball team, Patchell was a starter all four years during his tenure in Provo. He went on to play professionally in Spain on the indoor and sand volleyball circuits before returning to the states and beginning his coaching career in 1993. He has coached club volleyball since 2009.
Patchell earned his B.A. in English with a minor in business management from BYU in 1993. He went on to earn his master’s in English literature from the University of California Irvine in 2000.
