The 2022 season marks Atkinson’s fourth as Delaware State’s head volleyball coach. He joined the university staff on Feb. 11, 2019.
He is looking to follow-up on a historic 2021 season for the Hornets’ volleyball program.
In 2021, Atkinson was selected by his peers as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year after guiding the Hornets to a record-setting season, highlighted by a share of the MEAC regular season title for the first time since 1987 and a team record 26 wins (26-5).
Delaware State competed in the MEAC championship match for the first time since 2010 and was selected to the field of a national championship tournament (National Invitational Volleyball Championship) for the first time in team history during the 2021 campaign.
In addition, the Hornets were a perfect 13-0 at home and 11-1 vs. non-conference teams during the regular season, while also establishing new team highs for MEAC wins (12), longest win streak (16) and shutout wins (20).
The 16 consecutive wins, 14 by 3-0 scores, included shutout wins against Central Connecticut, Siena and St. Francis (Pa.) to claim the Siena Invitational championship.
Delaware State ended the 2021 regular season as the MEAC leader in kills, hitting percentage, opponents hitting percentage and assists
He is the second Delaware State coach to win the MEAC award, joining Mary Lamb-Bowman in 1986 and '87.
Also in 2021, Also, Delaware State middle blocker Alondra Maldonado (so.) was selected to the All-MEAC First Team, while fellow middle blocker Sydney Lewis (jr.) and setter Malgorzata Andersohn (jr.) were second team honorees.
Maldonado and Valeria Otero were also named to the 2021 MEAC All-Tournament Team.
Andersohn also earned recognition as the national Division I statistical champion for Aces Per Set for the 2021-22 season. In her first season with the Hornets, she was tops among all NCAA Division I players with a 0.65 aces per set average.
Ten members of the 2021 Hornets, each that was eligible, also earned MEAC All-Academic recognition.
In his second year at Delaware State during the pandemic-affected 2020 campaign, Atkinson led the Hornets to their first winning season (11-5) and MEAC Tournament appearance since 2010.
In his first season at DSU, Atkinson led a team that featured 11 freshmen and just one senior to the most wins by the program in nine years. The Hornets’ 12 wins in 2019 (12-18) were the most by the team since posting an 18-12 mark in 2010. Delaware State posted just 12 wins combined in the previous six seasons.
Delaware State’s seven MEAC wins in his first season were also the most by the team since tallying eight (8-2) in 2010. In addition, DSU had a three-game win streak, its longest in nine years, in 2019.
Off the court, the Hornets reached new heights in the classroom in Atkinson’s first season at the helm. The American Volleyball Coaches Association honored Atkinson and the Hornets as a recipient of the 2020 United States Marine/AVCA Team Academic Award.
The 2019-20 Delaware State squad achieved a 3.71 team GPA during the spring 2020 semester and 3.53 mark for the entire academic year. In addition, each of the Hornets' eligible volleyball student-athletes was listed on the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner's All-Academic Team.
Atkinson’s 12-year career as a college head coach is highlighted by a 229-134 overall record (.631 win percentage), multiple conference championships, five Coach-of-the-Year awards and six 20-win seasons.
Prior to joining the DSU staff, Atkinson was head women’s volleyball coach at Winthrop (S.C.) University from 2013 to 2018. His 98 wins at Winthrop are third-most in the 32-year history of the program.
From 2010 to 2013, Atkinson was head women’s volleyball coach at Towson University in Maryland. In 2012, he led the Tigers to the Colonial Athletic Association championship and a 25-4 overall record, including a 12-0 mark in conference regular season matches. He earned two CAA Coach-of-the-Year awards (2011, 2012) while at Towson.
Prior to his tenure at Towson, Atkinson was head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from 2007 to 2010. In three seasons, he was Pacific West Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 2007 and 2009, and led the Vulcans at a 69-13 overall record (.812), including a 39-5 mark in conference play (.872).
Atkinson began his college coaching career as head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Texas at Browns-ville, where he led the Ocelots to a Red River Athletic Conference championship and was named league Coach-of-the-Year after posting a 27-10 overall record and 10-1 conference mark during the 2006-07 season.
The Delaware State volleyball team was 2-27 overall and winless in 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matches during the 2018 campaign. In the previous six seasons, the Hornets had a 12-153 won-loss record (6-64 MEAC) and have failed to qualify for the conference championship tournament since 2010.
Atkinson earned a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education (Scientific Emphasis) from Brigham Young University-Hawaii in 1993, and a Doctor of Chiropractic from Southern California University of Health Sciences in 1996.
He is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (C.C.S.P.) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (C.S.C.S), in addition to being CPR/AED Certified for Adult and Pediatric.
Atkinson is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, National Strength and Conditioning
Association and American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians.
A native of Merced, Cal., Atkinson is married to Junae Kekauoha.
Bruce Atkinson at Delaware State
Overall MEAC
2019 12-18 7-9
2020* 11-5 7-3
2021 26-5 12-2 MEAC regular season co-champs
TOTALS 49-28 26-14
