Bio

For 2025-26, Nils Nielsen enters his fourth year as the head volleyball coach for Baker University after joining the Wildcats in March of 2022.

In the 2025 season, Nielsen and the Wildcats won the most games since 2013, going 17-10 overall, and posted an 11-7 mark in conference play to reach the Heart Conference Tournament for the first time in seven years. BU started off the fall by winning four of its first five matches and added a five-game winning streak in mid-September to get off to an excellent start to the Heart season as well. The Wildcats had 5 players earn All-Conference honors. 

Nielsen and the Wildcats closed out the 2024 season with a record of 11-15, marking the most wins for the program since 2019, while going 4-13 in conference play. The Wildcats picked up seven wins inside the Collins Center which is the most since 2018 when Baker won 12 games at home.

In 2023, Nielsen and the Wildcats finished with a 9-18 overall record to match their most wins in a season since 2019. He had four players earn all-conference honors with Kierra Hipple, Reese Kehl, Meredith Brown and Kylie Murray all landing on the postseason list.

In his first season at Baker, Nielsen coached an All-Conference player in Taylor Kile who was selected to the third team. 

Nielsen played collegiate volleyball at Cal State Northridge from 2000-05, where he was named to the AVCA All-American Second Team in 2005. Nielsen then became a member of the U.S. Men's National Team from 2006-10. After his tenure with Team USA, Nielsen was a professional volleyball player until 2015.

Throughout his career, Nielsen coached multiple club teams in southern California and was a member of the USA Volleyball coaching staff at the 2014 and 2015 Pan American games, where he helped Team USA to a silver medal in 2014.

Nielsen then served as a volunteer assistant coach for UCLA's men's volleyball program. After coaching KC Power's 17-1 team until March of 2020, Nielsen joined the women's volleyball staff at the University of Kansas in September of 2020, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach.