Dan Behnke was named the fifth head volleyball coach at Seattle U since the program's revival in 1999 on January 10, 2024.
In his first season at the helm, Behnke guided the Redhawks to eight wins and their first WAC Tournament berth since 2019. The program saw its most conference wins since the 2017 season and most wins at home since 2018. The Redhawks produced a two-time WAC Libero of the Week, the first conference weekly awards winner for the program since 2019, while placing a Redhawk on both the Preseason All-WAC Team and All-WAC Second Team since 2020 and 2018 respectively.
Behnke spent the previous four seasons at the helm of Saint Martin's University, breaking the program's single-season wins record three consecutive times. He led the program to numerous firsts and capped his tenure with the best season in program history, finishing 17-11 overall in 2023. The Saints earned three All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference award winners for the first time in program history in 2023 including SMU's first-ever First Team All-GNAC honoree, as well as the GNAC Freshman of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-GNAC selection.
Prior to Saint Martin's, Behnke spent five seasons as head coach of Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, turning around a program that won just five matches in 2014 to a 26-win, Red River Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion in 2019. The Rams made their first NAIA National Tournament appearance, claimed two RRAC regular season titles and one tournament championship under Behnke's guidance. He coached three All-Americans and 36 All-RRAC players along with three RRAC Front-Row Players of the Year, two Setters of the Year and one Defensive Specialist of the Year. Behnke was named RRAC Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Behnke's collegiate volleyball coaching career began as a volunteer assistant at Texas State in 2014. His role as the serving coach included all aspects of practice planning, skill development and data collection for a squad that ranked as high as 47th in the nation.
Prior to Texas State, Behnke coached juniors volleyball for nine years, leading his team to the USA Girls Junior National Championships in his final two seasons.
As a player, Behnke was team president and a right-side hitter for the University of Wisconsin-Stout men's club team. The team earned top-25 national rankings each of his four seasons.
Before full-time coaching, Behnke spent 14 years serving youth and families in the field of social services. Behnke received the 2008 Champions for Children Award in recognition of changing children's lives in the greater Austin community. Originally from Neenah, Wisc., Behnke earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2000.
In his first season at the helm, Behnke guided the Redhawks to eight wins and their first WAC Tournament berth since 2019. The program saw its most conference wins since the 2017 season and most wins at home since 2018. The Redhawks produced a two-time WAC Libero of the Week, the first conference weekly awards winner for the program since 2019, while placing a Redhawk on both the Preseason All-WAC Team and All-WAC Second Team since 2020 and 2018 respectively.
Behnke spent the previous four seasons at the helm of Saint Martin's University, breaking the program's single-season wins record three consecutive times. He led the program to numerous firsts and capped his tenure with the best season in program history, finishing 17-11 overall in 2023. The Saints earned three All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference award winners for the first time in program history in 2023 including SMU's first-ever First Team All-GNAC honoree, as well as the GNAC Freshman of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-GNAC selection.
Prior to Saint Martin's, Behnke spent five seasons as head coach of Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, turning around a program that won just five matches in 2014 to a 26-win, Red River Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion in 2019. The Rams made their first NAIA National Tournament appearance, claimed two RRAC regular season titles and one tournament championship under Behnke's guidance. He coached three All-Americans and 36 All-RRAC players along with three RRAC Front-Row Players of the Year, two Setters of the Year and one Defensive Specialist of the Year. Behnke was named RRAC Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Behnke's collegiate volleyball coaching career began as a volunteer assistant at Texas State in 2014. His role as the serving coach included all aspects of practice planning, skill development and data collection for a squad that ranked as high as 47th in the nation.
Prior to Texas State, Behnke coached juniors volleyball for nine years, leading his team to the USA Girls Junior National Championships in his final two seasons.
As a player, Behnke was team president and a right-side hitter for the University of Wisconsin-Stout men's club team. The team earned top-25 national rankings each of his four seasons.
Before full-time coaching, Behnke spent 14 years serving youth and families in the field of social services. Behnke received the 2008 Champions for Children Award in recognition of changing children's lives in the greater Austin community. Originally from Neenah, Wisc., Behnke earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2000.