Cal State LA Athletics

Jeff Alzina returns for a third season in his second stint as an assistant coach with the Cal State L.A. volleyball program.  Alzina’s success in both indoor and beach volleyball spans from the club level all the way to the Olympic Games.  In the last 10 years, he has coached teams to three USA Volleyball Junior National Open medals, the NCAA Final Four, and a fifth-place finish in beach volleyball at the Athens Olympics. He has worked with more than 200 of the top beach volleyball players in the world.

Alzina helped guide Cal State L.A. to its 17^th consecutive winning season in 2013. The Golden Eagles completed their first season sweep of UC San Diego since 2008 and wound up with a 16-14 overall record and an 11-11 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.

The Golden Eagles also had a player earn All-America honors for a third straight year, two players receive All-CCAA honors and another pick up the program’s first CCAA Newcomer of the Year award since 2009. The roster did not include any seniors.

Alzina helped the Golden Eagles to another winning season in his return to the program in 2012. The Golden Eagles finished with 11 victories in their final 15 matches to end the season with a 16-13 overall record and a 14-8 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.

On the beach tour, Alzina is considered one of the top coaches in the world. He has coached in more than 50 finals on the AVP and FIVB tours. His clients include more than 30 Olympians and 30 NCAA All-Americans and he has been hired as the National Team coach for eight different countries. In 2004, he was the USA Olympic Men’s coach and finished fifth at the Athens Games. From 1998-2000, he was the Head Coach for all Greek National Teams. He improved the women’s world ranking from No. 63 to No. 12 and in 2000, qualified Greek volleyball into the Olympic Games for the first time ever.

He is currently a head coach for the USA Volleyball Beach Elite Development program, selecting and training athletes in preparation for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Alzina has also coached for 17 seasons at the high school and club level. In the last four seasons with the Southern California Volleyball Club, his boys’ team has won a gold medal and two silver medals at the Junior Olympics and his 14-under girls’ team won the gold at the national Volleyball Festival in Phoenix, AZ. He has recently been chosen as the Head Coach for the SCVC girls 18’s program in 2015.

Alzina previously coached at Cal State L.A. from 2002-06 with former head coach Bill Lawler. During his first five years with the program, the Golden Eagles compiled a 102-46 overall record and reached the NCAA playoffs four times.

The highlight of his first five years at Cal State L.A. came in 2005 when the Golden Eagles captured the CCAA and NCAA Division II Pacific Region titles and advanced to the national semi-finals for only the second time in program history.

Alzina received his B.A. in social psychology from UC Santa Barbara and completed his Master’s degree in Sports Psychology and Coaching at Long Beach State.