Jonathan Winder Named MPSF Coach of the Year
Photo by: Pepperdine Athletics
Pepperdine Head Coach
Jonathan Winder guided the 2025 Waves to their seventh MPSF Championship with three tournament wins on three consecutive days, which they needed to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. While seeded fourth, Pepperdine won its quarterfinal match, and followed up with back-to-back wins over the MPSF’s top-two seeds through the next two nights to become the lowest seed to win the championship in 13 years (No. 4 seed UCI-2012). Pepperdine takes 20 wins (.690) into the NCAA Tournament, the most for the program in six years, including 11 victories over AVCA nationally-ranked teams. The Waves placed four student-athletes on the All-MPSF teams this year, along with Cole Hartke’s freshman of the year award. Additionally, the squad featured a conference-high three all-tournament honorees, including MVP Ryan Barnett, who shared the MPSF Tournament high with 23 kills in the championship match. This is Winder’s first-ever MPSF Coach of the Year honor, while he represents Pepperdine’s sixth such recognition (David Hunt-2022, 2019; Marv Dunphy-2007, 2005, 2002).