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Lubbock Christian University

Lubbock Christian University Athletics
 5601 19th Street Lubbock, TX 79407
NAIA Texas South
Private Small Developing team
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Alex Denning

The 2023 season will be Denning's 12th leading the Lubbock Christian women’s soccer program. One of only two coaches to lead the Lady Chaps, he has an all-time record of 102-67-24 at LCU.


LCU made their third Lone Star Conference postseason appearance in 2022, as they qualified for the tournament and finished with an 8-3-8 season. The program achieved six All-Conference selections, an All-Region selection, and a program record six Academic All-Region accolades.


The LCU season in 2021 was their first full fall season bouncing back from COVID-19 and LCU went 8-7-2. Along the way, LCU upset No.12 Dallas Baptist in Dallas with a 1-0 shutout for the program's first win over a nationally ranked program.


The 2020-21 season was weird and tough for many reasons, the main of which was the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed women’s soccer competition to the spring and did not include an NCAA Postseason Tournament. Denning and the Lady Chaps made the most of the odd situation, posting a 5-4 record and finishing second in their Lone Star Conference division, which earned them a first-round bye in the LSC Tournament. Seven Lady Chaps were honored by the conference after the season.


Lubbock Christian’s last true season – 2019 – was its most successful, by nearly any way you measure it. LCU’s 13 wins during the season set a new program record, they advanced to the second round of the conference postseason tournament for the first time ever, and midfielder Allison Scott earned D2SIDA Third Team All-American honors, becoming the first Lady Chap to be recognized with All-America status. Scott was also named to the All-LSC First Team, along with the league’s Forward of the Year and Academic Player of the Year, Haley Knesek. Hailey Phipps was the third and final Lady Chap named to the All-Conference First Tea, while Celia Duarta made the Second Team, Maddie Hoel made the Third Team and Hollie Windham made the All-Academic Team. Knesek, Scott and Phipps were also all recognized on various All-Region teams.


In 2018, LCU went 9-10 including an 8-6 record in Heartland Conference play. Leading the 2018 was freshman Makenna Pate, who led the team in points scored and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Third Team.


Every other Lady Chap season under Denning has included a record above .500. The 2017 season included nine wins compared to just seven losses and two ties, with eight win seasons in both 2016 (8-5-5) and 2015 (8-7-3). The last time LCU reached the double-digit win mark was 2014, when they went 11-6 with a 6-2 league record to finish third in the Heartland Conference. The Lady Chaps were winners of 10 games in their first season at the Division II level (2013), with just seven losses.


Denning joined the Lady Chaps soccer program for the 2012 season and led the Lady Chaps to a 12-5-2 finish. They opened the season with a 12-0-0 record and they were the final NAIA program to suffer either a tie or loss on their record.


He came to LCU after four seasons at the helm of both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Arkadelphia, Ark. based Ouachita Baptist University. In the four-year span, he led the men’s program to their only two postseason appearances and the women’s program to a Great American Conference championship match.


On the women’s side, Denning produced a record of 23-33-4 at OBU. In 2011, OBU went 8-9-1 and lost in a shootout to East Central (Okla.) after a 0-0 tie in the conference championship game. He helped the Lady Tigers raise their team GPA from 2.8 to 3.69, which ranked third highest in the nation.


On the men’s side, Denning posted a coaching mark of 24-29-4 at OBU. The 45.6% win percentage is a program best at OBU. The Tigers qualified for the 2010 Gulf South Conference Tournament with an 11-6 record. They carried the GSC Player of the Year on their roster and Denning claimed GSC Coach of the Year accolades. The Tigers also raised their team GPA from 2.34 to 3.45 under the guidance of Denning.


Overall while at OBU, Denning coached 17 all-conference players, including a conference player of the year honoree, and 11 all-region players. His teams also received 71 honors of academic recognition to his players.

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Brooke Wendl

Lubbock Christian University head women's soccer coach Alex Denning has announced the hiring of former Lady Chap star Brooke Wendl as the program's new assistant coach.


Wendl played for LCU from 2012 to 2015, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies in Middle School Education with a specialty in math. She was dominant on the field during her four years with the Lady Chaps and holds the majority of the program's offensive records.


"There are few people that are as intertwined with LCU Soccer as much as Brooke is," Denning said. "She came in as a freshman knowing the vision for the program and has worked to help push us in that direction ever since. As a player, Brooke set the tone in the record books and off the field as a very strong leader. I'm incredibly excited to see her as a coach. She's knowledgeable and loves the game, but beyond that she is going to pour into the girls daily."


Since graduating from Lubbock Christian in 2016, Wendl has been a teacher at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, which is the school she graduated from before attending LCU. Wendl has been a sixth-grade math teacher at the school, while serving as the middle school head soccer coach and the varsity girls assistant coach.


As a member of the Lady Chaps from 2012-15, Wendl was a part of the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II status. She started her career with a bang, leading the team in goals in 2012 as LCU went 12-5-2, setting a program record for wins that was just broken in 2019. She was the Sooner Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and an All-Conference Second Team selection, setting the tone for her prolific Lubbock Christian career.


Wendl repeated on the All-Conference Second Team as a sophomore, this time in the Heartland Conference, before making the All-Conference First Team in her junior and senior seasons. She also earned Heartland Conference Offensive Player of the Year (2014) and was twice named to the All-South Central Region First Team (2014, 2015).


In the Lubbock Christian record books, Wendl is still the all-time leader in points (123), goals (47), game-winners (17), assists (29), shots (295), shots on goal (163) and made penalty kicks (5).


Wendl re-joins a Lubbock Christian women's soccer program that is coming off a program-record 13 wins and a third-place finish in the Lone Star Conference Standings. The Lady Chaps led the Lone Star Conference with 2.35 goals per game in 2019, scoring 47 times overall while limiting opponents to just .95 goals per game. Twenty-nine of those goals were scored by players returning for the 2020 campaign, including the 11 scored by midfielder Allison Scott, who was named the program's first-ever All-American last season.


"We have been incredibly blessed with our staff additions and I know that we have gotten better adding such a great leader and coach to the team," Denning said. "This season we will still have the help of Kaitlyn Wilson (formerly Judge), Allison Robinson, and Lauren Denning, I'm not sure you can ask for a better staff at any level."

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