Hall of Fame
From the 2014 Hall of Fame program:
Brad Keenan was a two-time National Player of the Year for the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team, and continues to excel in his sport, now on the beach as part of the Association of Volleyball Professionals.
Keenan was one of the nation’s top recruits coming out of Fountain Valley (California) High School, where he made Volleyball Magazine’s “Fab 50” list and was an All-CIF and All-Orange County player.
A middle blocker who began his Pepperdine career during the 2000 season, Keenan earned spots on the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-American second team and Volleyball Magazine’s All-Freshman squad. He earned AVCA All-American awards all four seasons, making the second team again in 2001 and the first team as a junior and senior.
Keenan also collected volleyball’s top individual award, being named the National Player of the Year by both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine in 2002, and again by Volleyball Magazine in 2003.
Keenan holds Pepperdine career records for blocks (745), blocks per set (1.79) and service aces (187). He had a hitting percentage of better than .400 all four years, and his career mark of .443 ranks third all-time at Pepperdine.
Though NCAA records aren’t official, Keenan has reportedly posted the most single-season blocks by any Division I-II player in the rally-scoring era, as he recorded 231 in 2002. He holds the top two spots on Pepperdine’s rally-scoring single-season list, as he also had 208 in 2003. His 0.53 aces per set in 2002 set the school record in the rally-scoring era and led the nation that year.
Keenan’s Waves had an outstanding four years, as they reached the NCAA Championships three times, including a spot in the national championship match in 2002. He was named to the All-Tournament team that year after averaging 4.12 kills and 1.25 blocks per set while hitting .519.
The Waves won three Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season titles and the 2002 MPSF Tournament championship, and he was a four-time All-MPSF selection, making the first team twice and one time apiece on the second and third teams. He was named to the MPSF’s 15th anniversary third team in 2007.
Pepperdine finished with no worse of a national ranking than sixth in those four years, and had a combined record of 89-26 (.774). He graduated from Pepperdine in 2003 with a degree in accounting.
After Pepperdine, an injury led him to take an accounting job, but he later made his return to the sport on the beach. He made his mark quickly, being named the AVP’s Rookie of the Year in 2006 and its Most Improved Player in 2007. After a couple dozen top-three finishes over the course of his career, Keenan broke through in 2014 and won his first AVP event in St. Petersburg, Florida, along with former Pepperdine teammate John Mayer.
He is married to fellow beach volleyball player April Ross. The couple both won on the same weekend in St. Petersburg earlier this year. He also works as the director and coach of the OC Sand Volleyball Club.
