Kristofer Dorn begins his second season as head coach after serving for two years as the Bulldogs' top assistant. He is the fifth head coach in Samford volleyball history and the first male coach the Bulldogs have had. Dorn took over the reigns from Vicki Nichols, who coached the Bulldogs to two Atlantic Sun tournament appearances in her four years at the helm.
Dorn was very close to leading the Bulldogs to their first winning season in school history as Samford went 13-14 in his first season. Since coming to Samford, Dorn helped the Bulldogs become one of the top blocking teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Moving to the Ohio Valley Conference this season, Dorn knows that Bulldogs will have to continue to block well and continue to improve to other areas.
Before coming to Samford, Dorn spent one year as an assistant at Seton Hall University and two years at Liberty University. While at Seton Hall, he was in charge of player training, recruiting, and match preperation. Dorn also coached a 17's Cutshot Volleyball Club team while living in South Orange, New Jersey.
Dorn spent three weeks in the summer of 2001 in Brazil, where he coached a collegiate women's team through a missions group called Uncharted Waters.
During the summer of 1999, Dorn was chosen to coach the Athletes in Action International Men's Team in China. Before that trip, Dorn was the Assistant Coach for Liberty
University in Lynchburg, VA. He helped lead the Flames to the NCAA Tournament in 1997. Liberty won the Big South Conference Championship in 1997, and won the regular season title in 1998. Dorn helped the team achieve second in the conference in blocking proficiency. He also founded the Liberty Men's Club team, and coached it for two seasons.
Dorn's coaching career began at his alma mater, Taylor University. He took over the coaching responsibilities of the Men's Team at the end of his junior year of college in 1995. He proceeded to remain with the team for one more year after his college graduation in 1996.
As a player, Dorn started his career by walking on to his collegiate team in 1992 after being introduced to the game the summer before leaving for college. He was a two year starter at Middle blocker. He holds the record for most blocks in a season at Taylor. During the summers, he was the alternate Middle blocker for the Empire State Games in his home state of New York. After graduation, he was chosen to co-captain an international team with Athletes in Action. The team was the first to cross into Communist territory in East Asia, as well as tour Thailand.
Dorn graduated with a BA in Fine Arts and minor in Psychology from Taylor in 1996. A native of Long Island, New York, Dorn is married to the former Jennifer Pahl of Murrieta, Calif.
