Volleyball

Patrick Nicholas

Director of Volleyball
Alma Mater: George Mason '86
E-mail: pnichola19@catawba.edu
Office Phone: (704) 637-4480

Patrick Nicholas took over as Director of Volleyball in the spring of 2019. He will serve as head coach for the indoor squad and oversee the development of the new beach volleyball program. He has most recently been with the Upward Stars Volleyball Club in South Carolina.

Nicholas brings several years of NCAA I Head Coach experience to the position. He was the head coach at UNC Greensboro from 2009-13 and helped the Spartans to 84 wins and five straight divisional top four finishes making him at the time the winningest Division I volleyball coach at UNCG in the SoCon era. Nicholas was also the head coach at Troy and Lehigh, while serving as an assistant at Marshall, Ohio State, Purdue, FIU, and the U.S Naval Academy.

Nicholas has been with the Upward Stars Upstate Volleyball Club since 2015. He has been the head coach of the sand program and assisted with the top club teams at 18’s and 13’s. In addition, he has run the High Performance Training Volleyball School, training athletes in both indoor and beach volleyball.  In addition, he has coached with Florida Sun’s VBC, Austin Juniors VBC, River Cities VBC (San Antonio, TX), River City VBC (Huntington, WV), LAVA VBC (West Lafayette, IN) and CUVC (Charlotte, NC). 

As an assistant at Marshall, Nicholas served as the recruiting coordinator as the Herd claimed the 2007 Conference USA Regular Season Championship. His Troy squad posted the most wins during its Division I era and he compiled a 121-92 mark in seven winning seasons at Lehigh University. In 1997, Lehigh claimed the Patriot League Tournament and won an NCAA Tournament play-in match to advance to it’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Nicholas played volleyball at George Mason University as the Patriots earned their first-ever Top 10 National Ranking and was conference tournament finalists in 1983. Graduating in 1986 with a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, he served as an assistant coach at GMU during their first two NCAA Final Four runs.

While at the Naval Academy, Nicholas began coaching women’s volleyball in 1992 as an assistant. He would serve as Technical Assistant Coach/internship with the USA Women’s National Team in 1993-94 before joining the staff at Purdue. In 1995, Nicholas moved to Ohio State and assisted for two years for the Big 10 runner-up and nationally ranked Top Ten team. He then took the head coaching spot at Lehigh in 1997 where he became the all-time winningest coach.

Nicholas has worked 13 plus years with the USA Volleyball National Teams, High Performance Programs and other Development Programs.  He assisted in launching the USA Volleyball High Performance Programs in 1997 working as On-Site Director, Coordinator and Evaluator for the Girl’s Junior National Team, Girl’s Youth National Team and the Girl’s 14 & Under Training Team/Camp. In addition, he served in the same capacity for the Boy’s Junior National Teams, Boy’s Youth National Teams and the Boy’s 16 & Under Training Team/Camp.  He was the Head Coach for the USA Girl’s 14 & Under Team/Training Camp from 1997-2000, charged with training and developing future Olympians which culminated in 2000 winning a Silver Medal at the 2000 World Youth Games.  In addition, Nicholas traveled to Italy as Assistant Coach with the USA Boy’s Youth National Team in 1997 competing in a World Junior International Tournament.

While in North Carolina, Nicholas served as Head Coach of the Carolina Region Girl’s 14 & Under Team in 2011 and in 2012 earning a top ten finish.  In 2013 as Head Coach of the Carolina Region Youth Team they earned the Bronze Medal at the USA High Performance National Championships. Nicholas has also worked with the National A-2 team for a couple of summers an traveled to the Dominican Republic as Assistant Coach and Interim Head Coach in 2001 and was an evaluator for the USA Women’s National Team in 2013.

Nicholas also served as Head Coach for the All Army Women’s Team earning a Silver Medal at the All Armed Forces Championships in 1993 and as Assistant Coach for the San Diego Spikers Women’s professional team which won the National Volleyball Association Championships in 1994.

Cayce Bell

Assistant Coach
Alma Mater: UNC Pembroke '18
E-mail: cmbell19@catawba.edu
Office Phone: (704) 637-4480

Cayce Bell has joined the Catawba Volleyball staff as an assistant in the spring of 2019. She comes to Catawba after serving as a graduate assistant at UNC Pembroke. Bell will assist with both the indoor and beach teams at Catawba.
 
Bell played three years at UNC Pembroke where she was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player as a senior. Her 5.38 digs per set ranked fourth in the Peach Belt Conference. In three seasons with the Braves she eclipsed 1,000 career digs. Bell played her freshman season at UNC Greensboro, recording 77 digs over 14 matches.
 
At South Granville High School, Bell was an all-conference performer and team MVP as a senior for the 14-0 conference champions and state semifinalists. In her junior year, South Granville were runners-up in the state tournament.
 
Bell played for Catawba Director of Volleyball, Patrick Nicholas, with the Carolina Region Volleyball Club. She completed three straight years with the High Performance Team from 2011-13 and competed at the USA High Performance National Championships in those years. The 2012 team finished tenth at the Championships, while she won a Bronze Medal in 2013.

Bell also played beach volleyball and was ranked with her partner in the top 12 of the nation. They earned a bid to the USAV National Championships.
 
Bell graduated from UNC Pembroke in 2018 with a degree in sports management.

David Brooks

Assistant Coach
Alma Mater: Ramapo '06
E-mail: dbrooks18@catawba.edu
Office Phone: (704) 637-4480

David Brooks joined the Catawba College Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant in the fall of 2018.  He comes to Catawba following a record-setting tenure as Head Coach at Mallard Creek High School. 

Brooks, beginning in his first season in 2014, took the Mavericks to four straight playoff appearances, three straight conference tournament championship games, two sweet 16 appearances, one Elite 8 appearance and the 2016 Mecka Conference Tournament Championship. He set the school record for wins in a season (24), and total wins (81).  In 2015, Brooks was voted Mecka Conference 4A Coach of the Year.

Before taking the reigns at Mallard Creek, Brooks was the Head Coach at Phillip O Berry Academy and Assistant Coach at Scotland High School.  Brooks holds an overall high school coaching record of 130-39.

Brooks has coached the past three seasons for Carolina Juniors volleyball club where he has qualified two teams to USAV Nationals, including the 18 Elite team this past season, finishing 21st in the nation at USAV Nationals in Anaheim, California. Brooks is CAP I and CAP II Certified by USAV. 

A 2006 graduate from Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting.  He holds a North Carolina teaching license and has been a high school math teacher for the last 11 years.