After leading the Golden Eagles through a challenging campaign in 2017-18, Sandy Kriezel returns for her ninth season as the women’s tennis head coach at Cal State LA. Kriezel has lifted the Golden Eagles’ program to national prominence during her tenure, including six straight national top-25 rankings from 2012-17.
Despite injuries to several of her top players last season, Kriezel held the Golden Eagles together. Cal State LA finished the season with an 8-14 overall record and qualified once again for the PacWest Conference Tournament. The Golden Eagles battled a difficult schedule that featured several of the nation’s top NCAA Division II teams.
When it comes to talking, teaching and promoting tennis, it’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic proponent of the sport than Kriezel. She is active locally and nationally promoting the sport and her background includes many notable achievements. She is a member of two tennis Hall of Fames, is the regional director of the ITA summer circuit and has served on a number of ITA and NCAA committees throughout her coaching career.
Kriezel has an overall record of 203-196 over 20 seasons as a head coach, including an 80-79 record in eight seasons at Cal State L.A.
Cal State LA achieved national rankings in the top-25 for six straight seasons from 2012-17, something that hasn’t happened for the program since 1992-97.
Kriezel and the Golden Eagles had one of their most exciting seasons in many years in 2016-17. Cal State LA had a 13-8 overall record and finished fourth in the PacWest Conference for a third straight season. The Golden Eagles finished the season ranked 18th in the nation.
Cal State LA was 5-1 in matches decided by a 5-4 score, including a home win over No. 6 Hawaii Pacific. Cal State LA also had 5-4 wins over nationally-ranked Sonoma State, Point Loma, Azusa Pacific and Pomona-Pitzer. The 5-4 win over Azusa Pacific came in the quarterfinal round of the PacWest Championships and took nearly five hours to complete. The Golden Eagles then stunned No. 1 seed BYU-Hawaii by taking a 2-1 lead after doubles before falling in a semifinal match.
Kriezel guided the Golden Eagles to a fourth-place finish in the PacWest Conference in Cal State LA’s second season as an affiliate member in 2015-16. For the second straight year, Cal State LA recorded a big win in the opening round, but fell to No. 1 seed BYU-Hawaii in the semi-finals. The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 12-10 overall record and a final national ranking of 23.
The Golden Eagles had a national ranking of 17 in 2014-15 after finishing with a 10-10 record. The No. 17 national ranking marked a four-spot climb from the season before and was the program’s best since 2012. Cal State LA was also ranked No. 4 in the West Region.
The Golden Eagles won a pair of major ITA awards as No. 1 player Nozomi Matsuoka was named the ITA West Region Player to Watch and Jeff Rothschild was named the ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year for a second time.
Kriezel led the Golden Eagles to a 7-10 overall record and a national ranking of 21 in 2013-14. Nine of the 10 losses for the Golden Eagles came against NCAA Division II teams that were nationally-ranked, including four teams in the top-10. She directed a program that earned another major award as No. 1 player Leora Hemmerich was named the ITA West Region Senior Player of the Year.
Kriezel guided the Golden Eagles to a 9-9 overall record in 2012-13 against – once again - one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
The Golden Eagles were ranked 22nd in the nation at the end of the season, giving the program back-to-back national top-25 finishes for the first time since 1996. All nine losses came against teams that were nationally ranked, including four to teams in the top-10 of the NCAA Division II and six in the top-20.
Kriezel led a program that won three major awards, including a pair of significant ITA honors. For the second straight year, a Cal State LA player (Hemmerich) earned the West Region Arthur Ashe Award for leadership and sportsmanship, while Rothschild was named the ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
In addition, Christie Lau earned Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for a second straight year.
The 2012-13 campaign was a strong follow-up to a highly-successful 2011-12 season when Cal State LA finished with a national ranking of 15. Kriezel guided the Golden Eagles to a 13-5 overall record and a No. 4 ranking in the NCAA Division II West Region.
Kriezel led the Golden Eagles to their best end-of-the-year ranking since 1995 and their first national finish in the top-25 since 1996. The Golden Eagles had an impressive 9-1 record against NCAA Division II West Region competition.
Kriezel was named the West Region Coach of the Year by the ITA for the second time in her career.
The season was highlighted by Lau’s All-American and Academic All-America honors. She also received West Region honors for the Arthur Ashe Award for leadership and sportsmanship.
In her first year with the program, Kriezel led the Golden Eagles to an 8-13 record, which equaled the win total from the previous year.
Kriezel came to Cal State LA from Cal Poly Pomona, where she spent 15 years, 12 of them as the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams. Her tenure ended when Cal Poly Pomona dropped both tennis programs following the 2010 season.
Kriezel had a 123-117 record in 12 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona, including a 64-43 mark in conference matches. She led the Broncos to the 2003 California Collegiate Athletic Association championship and was named the ITA West Region Coach of the Year. The Broncos were ranked 18th in the nation in 2002 and 2003 and Kriezel was named the CCAA Coach of the Year both seasons.
She had her most successful season in 2003 when she led the Broncos to the CCAA Championship in dominating fashion. Cal Poly Pomona went undefeated in eight regular-season matches and breezed through three matches at the conference tournament.
Cal Poly Pomona qualified for the NCAA playoffs five straight years under Kriezel from 2002-2006.
Kriezel came to Cal Poly Pomona in 1996 and was an assistant coach for Dr. Ann Lebedeff from 1996-98. The Broncos won championships in women’s tennis in two of her three seasons as an assistant coach. She was named the head coach at Cal Poly Pomona on Oct. 1, 1998.
Before coming to Cal Poly Pomona, she was an assistant coach at Pomona-Pitzer in 1995.
As a player, Kriezel enjoyed great success. She played for two years at Chaffey College, where she was the team captain in 1973-74 and played No. 1 singles and doubles. She went on to Chico State, where she was the Northern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s No. 1 singles player and part of the No. 1 doubles team. She was inducted into the Chico State Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Chaffey College Hall of Fame in 2001.
