Bateham brings numbers to Montana volleyball team
5/13/2021 2:01:00 PM | Volleyball
Allison Lawrence doesn't remember the first time she met Erik Bateham, but she guesses it was around the early 2000s. At that point, Lawrence was in the beginning stages of her historic playing career at Oregon State while Bateham was still in grade school, hanging around Gill Coliseum and the sand courts with his family.
Fast forward two decades, and Bateham is now the newest member of Lawrence's coaching staff, being hired as an assistant volleyball coach at Montana.
Although he didn't officially start playing volleyball until college, due to limited opportunity for boys' volleyball growing up, he's been around the game for as long as he can remember. His father, Dave, was a volunteer assistant coach at Oregon State. Later on, following a playing career at OSU, his mother, Lisa, also served in that role. The two met in Corvallis, and together, his parents kept the books as OSU's official scorekeepers for decades.
When he wasn't in Gill Coliseum, tagging along with his parents, shagging balls for the players and watching high-level volleyball on a nightly basis – Logan Tom, the two-time AVCA National Player of the Year at Stanford, before a distinguished professional career that included four Olympic Games, is one of the players who comes to Bateham's mind – he was often on the sand courts, either playing with his family or watching the OSU players train.
One of those players was Lawrence, who was a standout for the Beavers from 2001-04.
"One of the most exciting parts about taking this position is getting to work with Allison," Bateham said. "Earlier this spring, I was looking through the Oregon State record books, and Allison is still high up in there in so many areas."
Lawrence was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection and finished her career ranked fifth in school history for kills, seventh for digs and 10th for service aces.
"Not only is she a great person," Bateham continued, "but historically, she's a record setter at a program I've been around for a long time. What she values most, and the culture she has created, really aligns with what I was looking for, so it's a really cool opportunity to get to work for her."
Lawrence and Bateham more than crossed paths during those years in Corvallis, with Bateham being a ball kid for OSU home matches and the Bateham family being closely tied to the program. Additionally, Bateham's sister, Nicole, played for Portland State from 2007-11, overlapping Lawrence's first seasons as an assistant coach at Montana.
"His family was always a part of the volleyball family that made my experience there really wonderful," Lawrence said. "They gave so much to the sport of volleyball in the place that I got to do it at the highest level, so I'm really thankful for them, and it's fun to connect with Erik on this side of things."
As Lawrence began the search to fill an open position on the Grizzlies' coaching staff, she didn't make the connection at first. But as the search continued, Bateham's name kept coming up, first from Mark Barnard, OSU's head coach and a friend of Lawrence's, but then from other coaches across the Oregon area, which Lawrence has many connections to.
The more she heard his name, the more she became intrigued. After several conversations over the phone and Zoom, it became apparent that Bateham not only had the volleyball acumen, but the passion, to be successful in Missoula.
"Whenever you talk to Erik, you instantly get this feeling that you're talking to someone who is really high energy and really engaged with all areas of life," Lawrence said. "He lives in a way that invites others in, but also pushes people to find another gear, which I think is a really good quality in a coach."
Bateham first expressed his interest in the position last fall, shortly after the spot opened up. Due to a hiring freeze on campus, however, Montana was unable to make a hire until May, forcing the Grizzlies to go through the season down a coach and delay Bateham's potential move to Missoula.
So instead he made the most of the situation and spent another season in Corvallis, and another year alongside Barnard on the Beavers' bench.
After serving as a student manager during his undergrad years, Bateham was a graduate assistant for OSU in 2014 and 2015, while he earned his master's degree. When he wasn't working with the women's team, he was playing himself, holding a dual role as a player and president for the OSU men's club team. He was a three-time PIVA first-team opposite hitter as the Beavers won a pair of PIVA titles, in addition to an NCVF D1AA national championship.
After several years away, he rejoined the OSU women's staff last fall as a volunteer assistant coach. The nine extra months allowed him to contribute in a variety of ways, including facilitating recruiting for future classes and on-court work with the pin hitters.
"Erik is an excellent young coach," Barnard said. "He is very analytical, a student of the game and was a major contributor to the Oregon State program as a manager, grad assistant, and volunteer coach. I have no doubt I'll turn my head every few years and he'll be moving up the ladder."
While Bateham made an impact on OSU's program, his biggest asset may be on the technological side.
During his two seasons as a graduate assistant, Bateham operated DataVolley for OSU, an analytical software that allows teams to grade each touch – by their own team and their opponents – and look for trends and success rates. After becoming experienced with DataVolley, he took things to another level this past year, downloading data and coding it in a way that he could generate reports on each player, highlighting just about anything a coach would want to know.
Serving zone tendencies? Check. Heat maps? Yep. Spray charts showing where hitters are attacking from and attacking to? You've got it.
"I like numbers, so I developed a few programs that help break down some data," Bateham explained. "Diving a bit more into the analytical side of things is something I really like doing, and something that hopefully brings value to the team."
Bateham likes analytics because, to him, the data helps tell a more complete story.
"We think, as coaches and humans, that we know what we're looking for," Bateham said. "Data does a good job of measuring what we're seeing, but also removing our own biases. It takes a little bit of the inherent biases out of decision making."
And that, more than his naturally driven work ethic or volleyball IQ, or any other skillset Bateham possesses, is what intrigues Lawrence the most.
"His passion for analytics brings us expertise in a different side of the game," Lawrence said. "I think it's really exciting to bring someone in who sees the game in that way and is really engaged with training and scouting and match execution to that deep of a level. It broadens our staff and gives our players the chance to engage with another person who is teaching them the game of volleyball."
Numbers are Bateham's thing, which makes sense considering his background – one that was never intended to include coaching. Sure, he loved the game of volleyball and assisted with the OSU program throughout college, but volleyball was never his endgame.
He received his degree from Oregon State in chemical engineering and two years later got his master's of business administration, focusing in global operations. During college he interned at Hewlett-Packard as an engineer. After college he moved to Houston, Texas, for a few years, where he managed $2 million in accounts for multiple product lines across North and South America, as a sales representative for Kuraray America Inc. Next, he was the director of energy for Kijani Forestry in Gulu, Uganda, of all places.
The environmental enterprise startup allowed Bateham to design and test low-cost and high-efficient charcoal kilns for improved global sustainability.
"The pay was pretty great, and you can live a pretty nice life, but it wasn't something I was passionate about or inspired to go to work every day for," Bateham said. "It made me think about what I wanted to do and what I was willing to put my time into.
"Volleyball had always been a part of my life, that staple."
He had made a good impression on Barnard, OSU's head coach, and asked if he needed assistance as a volunteer coach. Barnard said yes, but warned Bateham that he was going to become hooked if he did so.
"He told me, 'If you come here, you're going to start a career in coaching' and I guess he was right," Bateham said. "I didn't take a linear path to coaching, but I think it solidified where I wanted to be."
After another season with the Beavers – one that included Pac-12 victories over Arizona State (twice), Cal (twice) and USC – Bateham packed up his belongings and moved to Missoula. He was able to meet a few of his new student-athletes before they departed for summer break and now is hard at work, not only planning for youth camps and starting to prepare for the season up ahead, but digging into the numbers, as well.
"Coming from an engineering background, and even my MBA was on the analytical side of things, I like using numbers because they allow you to really customize how you want to see data broken down, and you can not only scout other teams, but also yourself. Where are our tendencies? Where are we predictable? What areas do we need to work on?"
While his office walls are still mostly undecorated, sitting at his desk he eagerly opens up a file on his computer.
"I was able to download and code nearly every Big Sky game from last spring," he explained as he scrolls down, showing data, spray charts and percentages for every player on Montana's roster.
"I'm eager to really dig in and see how we can continue to grow once we get on the court."
Erik Bateham is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Montana volleyball program. He was hired by Allison Lawrence in May 2021.
Bateham came to Montana from Oregon State, where he most-recently served as a volunteer assistant coach. During the Beavers' abbreviated spring 2021 season, OSU earned Pac-12 wins over Arizona State (twice), California (twice) and USC. He primarily worked with OSU's pin hitters, in addition to facilitating recruiting for future classes and generating various analytical reports.
Bateham has strong ties to Corvallis, Oregon, where he spent one season as the Beavers' volunteer assistant coach (2020-21), two seasons as their graduate assistant coach (2014-16) and three more as a student manager (2011-14).
Bateham also played on OSU's men's club team, helping lead the Beavers to two PIVA titles and a 2014 NCVF D1AA National Championship. He was three times named a PIVA first-team opposite hitter.
Bateham, a Corvallis, Oregon, native, received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State in 2014, before earning his master's in business administration from Oregon State in 2016. Prior to getting into coaching, he worked as a sales representative for Kuraray America Inc., in Houston, Texas, and as the director of energy, for Kijani Forestry, in Gulu, Uganda, where he helped design and test low-cost and high-efficient charcoal kilns for improved global sustainability.
Fast forward two decades, and Bateham is now the newest member of Lawrence's coaching staff, being hired as an assistant volleyball coach at Montana.
Although he didn't officially start playing volleyball until college, due to limited opportunity for boys' volleyball growing up, he's been around the game for as long as he can remember. His father, Dave, was a volunteer assistant coach at Oregon State. Later on, following a playing career at OSU, his mother, Lisa, also served in that role. The two met in Corvallis, and together, his parents kept the books as OSU's official scorekeepers for decades.
When he wasn't in Gill Coliseum, tagging along with his parents, shagging balls for the players and watching high-level volleyball on a nightly basis – Logan Tom, the two-time AVCA National Player of the Year at Stanford, before a distinguished professional career that included four Olympic Games, is one of the players who comes to Bateham's mind – he was often on the sand courts, either playing with his family or watching the OSU players train.
One of those players was Lawrence, who was a standout for the Beavers from 2001-04.
"One of the most exciting parts about taking this position is getting to work with Allison," Bateham said. "Earlier this spring, I was looking through the Oregon State record books, and Allison is still high up in there in so many areas."
Lawrence was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection and finished her career ranked fifth in school history for kills, seventh for digs and 10th for service aces.
"Not only is she a great person," Bateham continued, "but historically, she's a record setter at a program I've been around for a long time. What she values most, and the culture she has created, really aligns with what I was looking for, so it's a really cool opportunity to get to work for her."
Lawrence and Bateham more than crossed paths during those years in Corvallis, with Bateham being a ball kid for OSU home matches and the Bateham family being closely tied to the program. Additionally, Bateham's sister, Nicole, played for Portland State from 2007-11, overlapping Lawrence's first seasons as an assistant coach at Montana.
"His family was always a part of the volleyball family that made my experience there really wonderful," Lawrence said. "They gave so much to the sport of volleyball in the place that I got to do it at the highest level, so I'm really thankful for them, and it's fun to connect with Erik on this side of things."
As Lawrence began the search to fill an open position on the Grizzlies' coaching staff, she didn't make the connection at first. But as the search continued, Bateham's name kept coming up, first from Mark Barnard, OSU's head coach and a friend of Lawrence's, but then from other coaches across the Oregon area, which Lawrence has many connections to.
The more she heard his name, the more she became intrigued. After several conversations over the phone and Zoom, it became apparent that Bateham not only had the volleyball acumen, but the passion, to be successful in Missoula.
"Whenever you talk to Erik, you instantly get this feeling that you're talking to someone who is really high energy and really engaged with all areas of life," Lawrence said. "He lives in a way that invites others in, but also pushes people to find another gear, which I think is a really good quality in a coach."
Bateham first expressed his interest in the position last fall, shortly after the spot opened up. Due to a hiring freeze on campus, however, Montana was unable to make a hire until May, forcing the Grizzlies to go through the season down a coach and delay Bateham's potential move to Missoula.
So instead he made the most of the situation and spent another season in Corvallis, and another year alongside Barnard on the Beavers' bench.
After several years away, he rejoined the OSU women's staff last fall as a volunteer assistant coach. The nine extra months allowed him to contribute in a variety of ways, including facilitating recruiting for future classes and on-court work with the pin hitters.
"Erik is an excellent young coach," Barnard said. "He is very analytical, a student of the game and was a major contributor to the Oregon State program as a manager, grad assistant, and volunteer coach. I have no doubt I'll turn my head every few years and he'll be moving up the ladder."
While Bateham made an impact on OSU's program, his biggest asset may be on the technological side.
During his two seasons as a graduate assistant, Bateham operated DataVolley for OSU, an analytical software that allows teams to grade each touch – by their own team and their opponents – and look for trends and success rates. After becoming experienced with DataVolley, he took things to another level this past year, downloading data and coding it in a way that he could generate reports on each player, highlighting just about anything a coach would want to know.
Serving zone tendencies? Check. Heat maps? Yep. Spray charts showing where hitters are attacking from and attacking to? You've got it.
"I like numbers, so I developed a few programs that help break down some data," Bateham explained. "Diving a bit more into the analytical side of things is something I really like doing, and something that hopefully brings value to the team."
Bateham likes analytics because, to him, the data helps tell a more complete story.
"We think, as coaches and humans, that we know what we're looking for," Bateham said. "Data does a good job of measuring what we're seeing, but also removing our own biases. It takes a little bit of the inherent biases out of decision making."
And that, more than his naturally driven work ethic or volleyball IQ, or any other skillset Bateham possesses, is what intrigues Lawrence the most.
"His passion for analytics brings us expertise in a different side of the game," Lawrence said. "I think it's really exciting to bring someone in who sees the game in that way and is really engaged with training and scouting and match execution to that deep of a level. It broadens our staff and gives our players the chance to engage with another person who is teaching them the game of volleyball."
He received his degree from Oregon State in chemical engineering and two years later got his master's of business administration, focusing in global operations. During college he interned at Hewlett-Packard as an engineer. After college he moved to Houston, Texas, for a few years, where he managed $2 million in accounts for multiple product lines across North and South America, as a sales representative for Kuraray America Inc. Next, he was the director of energy for Kijani Forestry in Gulu, Uganda, of all places.
The environmental enterprise startup allowed Bateham to design and test low-cost and high-efficient charcoal kilns for improved global sustainability.
"The pay was pretty great, and you can live a pretty nice life, but it wasn't something I was passionate about or inspired to go to work every day for," Bateham said. "It made me think about what I wanted to do and what I was willing to put my time into.
"Volleyball had always been a part of my life, that staple."
He had made a good impression on Barnard, OSU's head coach, and asked if he needed assistance as a volunteer coach. Barnard said yes, but warned Bateham that he was going to become hooked if he did so.
"He told me, 'If you come here, you're going to start a career in coaching' and I guess he was right," Bateham said. "I didn't take a linear path to coaching, but I think it solidified where I wanted to be."
After another season with the Beavers – one that included Pac-12 victories over Arizona State (twice), Cal (twice) and USC – Bateham packed up his belongings and moved to Missoula. He was able to meet a few of his new student-athletes before they departed for summer break and now is hard at work, not only planning for youth camps and starting to prepare for the season up ahead, but digging into the numbers, as well.
"Coming from an engineering background, and even my MBA was on the analytical side of things, I like using numbers because they allow you to really customize how you want to see data broken down, and you can not only scout other teams, but also yourself. Where are our tendencies? Where are we predictable? What areas do we need to work on?"
While his office walls are still mostly undecorated, sitting at his desk he eagerly opens up a file on his computer.
"I was able to download and code nearly every Big Sky game from last spring," he explained as he scrolls down, showing data, spray charts and percentages for every player on Montana's roster.
"I'm eager to really dig in and see how we can continue to grow once we get on the court."
Erik Bateham is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Montana volleyball program. He was hired by Allison Lawrence in May 2021.
Bateham came to Montana from Oregon State, where he most-recently served as a volunteer assistant coach. During the Beavers' abbreviated spring 2021 season, OSU earned Pac-12 wins over Arizona State (twice), California (twice) and USC. He primarily worked with OSU's pin hitters, in addition to facilitating recruiting for future classes and generating various analytical reports.
Bateham has strong ties to Corvallis, Oregon, where he spent one season as the Beavers' volunteer assistant coach (2020-21), two seasons as their graduate assistant coach (2014-16) and three more as a student manager (2011-14).
Bateham also played on OSU's men's club team, helping lead the Beavers to two PIVA titles and a 2014 NCVF D1AA National Championship. He was three times named a PIVA first-team opposite hitter.
Bateham, a Corvallis, Oregon, native, received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State in 2014, before earning his master's in business administration from Oregon State in 2016. Prior to getting into coaching, he worked as a sales representative for Kuraray America Inc., in Houston, Texas, and as the director of energy, for Kijani Forestry, in Gulu, Uganda, where he helped design and test low-cost and high-efficient charcoal kilns for improved global sustainability.
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