Official Site of College of the Desert Athletics

Bio

Detlev Rothe
Head Coach
Office:

Coach Detlev Rothe has been at the helm of the Roadrunner Volleyball program since the 2015 season, bringing with him over 30+ years of volleyball playing and coaching experience. He has been the driving force for the development of youth volleyball in the Coachella Valley for over 16 years as the Founder and Director of Desert Sports Volleyball Club in 2005, and more recently 111 Beach Volleyball Club, sending multiple teams to Junior National competition.

For indoor volleyball, the Roadrunners finished the 2023 regular season, with an 11-14 overall record and a 7-5 conference record, wrapping up the regular season winning 4 of their final 6 games. Since 2015, Desert Indoor Volleyball has accumulated 102 wins under the leadership of Coach Rothe, which included Conference titles in 2022 and 2019.

For beach volleyball, the Roadrunners have sent a pairs team to the State Championship in each of the last four seasons. 2023: Grace Abrams & Katie Alexander / 2022: Tyler Davis & Alexis Dempsey (Rd of 16) / 2019: Ashtyn Lyneis & Kelsey Smith (3rd Place) / 2018: Ashtyn Lyneis & Nicole Svoboda

In Coach Rothe's term, on the indoor volleyball side in 2022, Volleyball was awarded Conference Coach of the Year and Conference Player of the Year, plus 4 All-Conference selections and he has had 5 players sign to four-year schools, a number which grows at the conclusion of every season. Since 2015, Coach Rothe has had 29 All-Conference selections, plus 12 Honorable Mentions, 4 players named to the California Community College Women's Volleyball Coaches Association (3CWVCA) Academic All-State Team and a player named to the 3CWVCA All-Southern California Team.

The 2018 and 2019 seasons were banner years for Indoor volleyball at College of the Desert. The 2018 season was the first 20-win season in nearly 15 years, and in 2019 an Inland Empire Athletic Conference Championship was the first of its kind in that same period. Multiple All-Conference 1st Team selections and the program’s first All-State athlete selection highlight the commitment his program makes to a culture of joy and success through “Fierce” and “Relentless” training and competition. The program has had several CCCAA Top 5 state ranked athletes in key performance statistics including a setter at #2 in assists per set and multiple Liberos in the digs per set category.

2018 and 2019 were also the first intercollegiate years for Beach Volleyball for the Roadrunners. Coach Rothe and his committed staff wasted no time making their mark on the CCCAA. The team earned two All-Conference pairings in the highly competitive PCAC in 2018, and the 1’s pairing fought their way through conference and regional competition to earn a spot at the State Pairs Championship in the program’s first year of competition. In 2019, the program bettered that with a 3rd Place/Bronze Medal, a team state ranking as high as #7, and again multiple All-Conference athlete awards.

Coach Rothe got his start in the sports of Indoor and Beach Volleyball at Laguna Beach High School and through his collegiate years at UC Santa Barbara. As an outdoor player he reached NCVA Open/Pro status competing on tours and tournament series while acting as an Assistant Coach at NCAA D2 Cal State Hayward (Now CSUEB) from 1996-2003. Highlights include winning the De Anza Classic in 1998-99, the Hayward Open in 2001, the Pleasanton Open in 2002, two Top-3 finishes at USAV Nationals, and competing on the Spike It Up, AVP Next, and Jose Cuervo Tours throughout the country.

Coach values the importance of academic success and the opportunity for his athletes to move on to four-year colleges and universities with strong academic and athletic resumes. He is truly proud of a program record five All-State Academic Awards earned in 2019-2020. A testament to the high-quality athletes he works hard to recruit, and the commitment as a program those athletes make to academic excellence.

Committing himself to the ongoing development and direction of CCCAA volleyball, Coach Rothe has acted as PCAC and IEAC Conference and Seeding Representative since 2018, and recently was named CCC Beach Volleyball Coaches Association Vice-President in 2020. He remains active in youth and national coaching associations with AVCA membership as well as having earned USAV CAP/BeachCAP certification. In addition, he has worked with Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert to launch their Girl’s Beach Volleyball team that will compete in the newly announced CIF sport.

Coach Rothe, his wife and Co-Coach Marion and their three children Juliette, Landon and Grayson enjoy soccer, beach volleyball and hiking/camping in their free time.

— Bio current as of November 2023