A longtime head coach at USC with a wealth of valuable experience, Richard Gallien returns for his seventh season as the head coach of the Cal State LA women’s tennis program. Gallien was the assistant coach for the Golden Eagles for two seasons before becoming the head coach for the 2019-20 season.
The Golden Eagles had a challenging 2025 season that was hampered by a series of injuries, most notably to their top two singles players. Cal State LA maintained its positive competitive spirit and closed out the season by winning two of its final three matches. The Golden Eagles finished with a 3-13 overall record.
The Golden Eagles once again demonstrated outstanding success off the courts as three members earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators and seven players earned PacWest Conference academic honors.
Gallien has a 415-216 record in 27 seasons as a women’s tennis head coach, including a 22-55 mark at Cal State LA. He had a 393-161 mark in 22 seasons at USC and has an overall career head coaching record of 477-240 that includes three years as a co-head men’s tennis coach at Pepperdine.
The Golden Eagles competed well despite a series of injuries in 2024 and continued their reputation for success both on and off the courts. For a second straight year, the Golden Eagles had all their players earn PacWest Conference academic honors and four players earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators. In addition, all eight players earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete Awards and Cal State LA earned an ITA All-Academic Team award for having a team grade point average above a 3.0.
Cal State LA was 3-15 overall and closed its season with a much-deserved victory over Hope International.
A short-handed Cal State LA team battled through injuries and inclement weather during a challenging 2022-23 season on the court. The Golden Eagles were on the short end in several tight matches, but their competitive spirit was a tribute to the team during a 3-13 record.
Gallien led the Golden Eagles to one of their best years academically in program history as all seven players earned PacWest Conference academic honors and four players earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators. In addition, all seven players earned ITA Scholar-Athlete awards and the Golden Eagles earned an ITA All-Academic Team award as well.
Gallien led the Golden Eagles back into competition in 2022 after the entire 2021 season was canceled due to COVID. Cal State LA was unable to field a full squad during the fall of 2021 and got off to a challenging start in 2022 before coming on strong by the end of the season. Gallien led the Golden Eagles to an 8-10 overall record, including a 2-2 mark in four matches at the PacWest Tournament. The Golden Eagles earned the seventh-seed for the tournament and finished seventh after wins against Dominican and Hawaii-Hilo. Cal State LA earned a well-played 4-2 win over Hawaii-Hilo in the seventh-place match to end the season.
Gallien picked up the 400th win as a women’s tennis head coach during the 2022 season when the Golden Eagles picked up a 7-0 win over Marymount on March 9.
Gallien also guided the Golden Eagles to great academic success. Sakura Kurokawa earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors for a second straight year and five Cal State LA players earned ITA Scholar-Athlete awards. Cal State LA also earned an ITA All-Academic Team award. Six players earned All-Academic honors from the PacWest Conference.
Although the Golden Eagles did not compete in 2021, three players earned ITA Scholar-Athlete awards and Cal State LA earned an ITA All-Academic Team award.
Gallien led the Golden Eagles to a 5-4 record in 2020 before the season was halted in March in his first season as the head coach. Cal State LA won its final two matches against West Region competition before play was stopped.
Two players – Berta Acero and Sakura Kurokawa – earned ITA Scholar-Athlete Awards and Cal State LA earned an ITA All-Academic Team award. Three players – Acero, Kurokawa and Mariko Sagara – earned Academic All-PacWest Conference honors.
Gallien came to Cal State LA as an assistant coach in the 2017-18 season after coaching USC for 22 successful seasons.
He led the Trojans from the 1995-96 season until the 2016-17 campaign. Under his watch, the Trojans strung together 21 straight NCAA appearances, 19 top-20 team rankings, three trips to the NCAA semifinals and seven to the quarterfinals.
Gallien earned Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year honors six times and was a four-time ITA Region Coach of the Year and he earned both those awards in 2015 when the Trojans finished the year ranked No. 2 in the nation and spent time during the year at No. 1. USC earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Team Tournament and came up short against eventual NCAA champion Vanderbilt in the semifinals. The Trojans ended the 2015 season with a 25-3 overall record.
Gallien spent 11 years at Pepperdine as a player, assistant coach and co-head coach. He began his coaching career as an assistant to Pepperdine head coach Allen Fox from 1985-87 and helped the Waves to a second-place finish in 1986. He became Pepperdine’s co-head coach with Fox from 1988-90 and helped guide the Waves to a 62-24 mark. His 1988 and 1990 squads played in the NCAA Tournament and a Pepperdine player, Robby Weiss, won the 1988 NCAA singles title.
Gallien left Pepperdine in 1990 to become the head professional at the Los Angeles Tennis Club and later entered private business for two years before returning to Pepperdine as an assistant coach for one season.
During a four-year playing career at Pepperdine, Gallien earned All-America honors twice. He also earned a gold medal in singles at the University Games and played professionally in 1984.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational communications from Pepperdine in 1985.
