HONOLULU - Opening the 2016 season next week against No. 4 Wisconsin, the sixth-ranked University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team will take the court with a few new faces—including first year assistant coach Lindsey Berg.
 
It is a homecoming for Berg who was born and raised in Honolulu. As a three-time U.S. Olympic team setter helped the U.S. capture silver medals in both 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) as team captain, making her Olympic Debut in 2004 (Athens). Berg takes over the UH reins from former assistant coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, who herself was also a three-time U.S. Olympian on the volleyball team after a highly decorated, All-American career at Hawai'i. For two of those Olympics, Berg and Ah Mow-Santos were teammates in Athens and Beijing.
 
After graduating from Punahou School in 1998, Berg matriculated to Minnesota where she was a three-time All-Big Ten selection. She set a new Golden Gopher record for career assists and was ranked third in the conference in all-time assists with 5,913. Berg earned her bachelor's degree in business marketing in 2001 from Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Berg was named the USA Volleyball Female Indoor Athlete of the Year in both 2008 and 2011 and accumulated many other accolades during her career with the national team. She also played professionally both in the U.S. (Minnesota Chill of the USPV in 2002) and abroad. She played for eight years in Italy on three different teams and finished her playing career with one season in Istanbul in 2013.
 
"Lindsey has a standard that's unbelievable," associate head coach Jeff Hall said. "She coaches like she's been doing this for a very long time. I'm quite impressed and I think she brings a lot to the table. She's helped our setters get better in a very short amount of time. Robyn was the heart of this team for several years, but Coach [Dave] Shoji has done a great job of replacing her."
 
Under Berg, the current UH setters have not missed a beat. She inherits a setting staff of four, led by senior Tayler Higgins and junior Kendra Koelsh. Berg has already left an imprint on the unit and the team through fall camp.
 
"Being a female player who has played at the highest level, she has a lot of advice and a lot of good wisdom that has been given to us," senior setter Tayler Higgins said. "She has challenged us to be more consistent, more aware of our own setting and what's happening on both sides of the net. She reminds us that as setters, we have to be the rock of the team."
 
Coach Berg sat down with HawaiiAthletics.com this week to talk about her new role at UH. Check out the full interview below:  
The Rainbow Wahine season-opening matchup against the Badgers is set for Friday, Aug. 26 at 7:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.