After leading the Golden Eagles to a seventh straight trip to the NCAA playoffs in 2024 on the heels of the program’s first-ever national championship the year before, Juan Figueroa returns for his ninth season as the head coach of the Cal State LA volleyball program.
In their national title defense, the Golden Eagles were 18-11 in 2024 and reached the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship match for a second straight season. The two-time defending West Region champion Golden Eagles reached the NCAA West Regional as a No. 7 seed and fell in heartbreaking fashion to No. 2 seed and eventual national runner-up San Francisco State. Cal State LA forced a fifth set in the first-round battle, but fell by a 16-14 score in the deciding frame to end their title reign.
Figueroa has led Cal State LA to a 144-65 record in his first seven seasons as the head coach, including a 129-53 mark over the past six seasons. He has guided the Golden Eagles to a 92-31 mark in conference play and to a pair of conference titles. He has also been Cal State LA’s Coach of the Year four times in the past five years.
Cal State LA has collected 34 All-CCAA, 8 All-West Region and 8 All-America awards during Figueroa’s tenure. Most notably, he recruited and developed Emily Elliott into the best player in program history. Elliott earned her second of back-to-back American Volleyball Coaches Association West Region Player of the Year awards in 2024 and became the program’s first-ever two-time first-team All-American. She also became just the third player in program history to finish her career as a three-time All-American.
Overall, he has had players earn one CCAA Female Athlete of the Year award, one CCAA Player of the Year award, two CCAA Newcomer of the Year awards, three CCAA Freshman of the Year awards, two CCAA Elite 13 Awards for academics, two AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year awards, one AVCA national Freshman of the Year award, one CSC Academic All-America award and eight CSC Academic All-District awards.
Figueroa led the Golden Eagles to the first national championship in program history with a memorable run in 2023. The Golden Eagles claimed back-to-back CCAA and NCAA West Region championships and then capped off the historic season with a remarkable run for the national title.
After a dominant performance in the West Regional, the Golden Eagles entered the nationals as a No. 6 seed and upended No. 3 seed Wayne State, No. 2 seed Missouri-St. Louis and defending champion and No. 4 seed West Texas A&M for the title. The combined record of Cal State LA’s three opponents at nationals was 98-6 and the unranked Golden Eagles knocked off three top-five teams in No. 4 Wayne State, No. 5 Missouri-St. Louis and No. 2 West Texas A&M.
Figueroa successfully got the Golden Eagles to rebound from a 2-6 start and become the first team to go from being unranked in the final regular-season AVCA poll to winning a national championship since the AVCA polls started in 1986.
After pulling into a share of first place in the CCAA on the final day of the regular season, the Golden Eagles hosted the CCAA Tournament for the first time and fell in the championship match in four sets to Cal State San Bernardino.
Figueroa, though, had the Golden Eagles firing on all cylinders two weeks later at the West Regionals in San Bernardino. After a four-set win over Seattle Pacific in the first round and a three-set win over Chaminade in the semifinals, the No. 4 seed Golden Eagles blew past host Cal State San Bernardino in a stunningly efficient 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 victory in the championship match.
Riding that wave of momentum, the Golden Eagles then beat Wayne State in five sets (after trailing 2-1), Missouri-St. Louis in three sets and West Texas A&M in four sets for the title.
Cal State LA finished with a 24-10 record and earned the program’s first-ever national No. 1 ranking. Cal State LA recorded a fifth straight 20-win season for the first time ever.
Elliott became the program’s first-ever CCAA Female Athlete of the Year, and was the program’s first CCAA Player of the Year in volleyball since 2005 following the championship run.
The national championship came on the heels of a monumental 2022 campaign, when Figueroa led the Golden Eagles to their first CCAA and NCAA West Region championships since 2005 and guided Cal State LA to the national semifinals, also for the first time in 17 years.
Figueroa was named the NCAA West Region Coach of the Year by the AVCA and the CCAA Coach of the Year in voting by the conference head coaches.
Cal State LA won the fourth CCAA regular-season title in program history with a 16-2 record and the Golden Eagles finished the season with a 25-7 overall record, which was their most wins since 2005.
The Golden Eagles earned the No. 3 seed in the West Regional and turned in a spectacular postseason performance, beating Sonoma State in four sets and sweeping Central Washington and Chaminade in three sets each for the regional crown. Cal State LA, as a No. 4 seed, then swept No. 5 seed Gannon in a national quarterfinal match before ending its season with a loss to top-seed Concordia-St. Paul in the semifinals.
The Golden Eagles set the foundation for their deep championship runs of 2022 and 2023 with an outstanding 2021 campaign that saw the Golden Eagles post a 20-10 record and enjoy some postseason success in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Cal State LA was returning to competition after the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID and Figueroa had them ready to go.
The season was highlighted by one of the most monumental wins in program history. After opening the NCAA playoffs with a four-set win over No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona, the Golden Eagles upset defending national champion Cal State San Bernardino in three spectacular sets in the second round in San Bernardino. It was the Golden Eagles’ first win in San Bernardino since 2012 and the first NCAA playoff win over the Coyotes since 2004. Cal State LA, the No. 5 seed, fell to No. 2 seed Western Washington in the regional final to end the season. It was the Golden Eagles’ first appearance in a regional championship match since 2009.
The Golden Eagles were fourth in the CCAA with a 13-5 record and advanced to the conference tournament semi-finals for a fourth straight season.
Prior to the 2020 season being cancelled, Figueroa had the Golden Eagles moving in the right direction. In 2019, the Golden Eagles reached the CCAA Tournament championship match for the first time ever and earned a second straight No. 3 seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
The Golden Eagles were 20-9 overall and recorded their most successful conference record in 14 years after finishing second in the CCAA with a 14-3 mark.
The Golden Eagles played one of their most ambitious schedules in many years and competed well against several of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Figueroa was named Cal State LA’s Coach of the Year for the first time in 2018 after guiding the Golden Eagles to a sensational season that included a national top-10 ranking, a 22-6 overall record and the first NCAA playoff appearance since 2010.
The 22 wins were the most for the program since 2009. The Golden Eagles were 20-1 after 21 matches, which equaled the start of the 2005 squad, and their 13-0 start was the most consecutive wins to start a season since 2000.
Cal State LA was ranked 14th in the nation at the end of the regular season and the Golden Eagles’ No. 9 national ranking after their 20-1 start was their highest since 2006.
The Golden Eagles finished third in the CCAA South Division and advanced to the CCAA Championship Tournament semifinals for a second straight year. Cal State LA entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the West and fell in a tight five-set battle to Central Washington in the first round.
Figueroa led Cal State LA to a 15-12 overall record in 2017 in his first year as head coach. The Golden Eagles got hot down the stretch and qualified for the conference tournament after finishing in a tie for third place in the South Division. Cal State LA posted the surprise of the tournament when the Golden Eagles toppled North Division No. 1 Sonoma State in four sets in the first round.
Figueroa joined the program as an assistant coach in 2016 and helped the Golden Eagles to a 15-11 overall record. Figueroa also led the Golden Eagles’ beach volleyball team in its first five seasons.
He has also been a highly successful club coach. Figueroa helped build the A4 Volleyball Club out of Orange County into a regional and national powerhouse and he is the owner of Figs Volleyball Club out of Temecula.
He has coached at free clinics for a low-income girls’ volleyball program at Club Nitrosas de Naranjito and was a director of Juanchi’s Volleyball clinics in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and Dickinson, North Dakota.
A gifted athlete, Figueroa excelled in two sports at USC, primarily in volleyball. In addition to earning a pair of All-America awards in volleyball for the Trojans, he also participated in track and field during his junior year and won the long jump in a USC-UCLA dual meet with a leap of 25 feet, 5 inches that was fifth-best in the nation and automatically qualified him for nationals after only two days of practice. He was an outside hitter for the Trojans from 2005-08 and finished his volleyball career No. 2 in points in USC history. He then embarked on a successful career in the Puerto Rican Professional Indoor Volleyball League and also played overseas in Germany and Greece.
He was a member of the Puerto Rican National Indoor Volleyball Team since 2007 and he was selected as the Volleyball Player of the Year in 2012 by the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee. The team won the gold medal in the Central American Games in 2010 and took second place in the Central American Games in 2014. Figueroa earned the Best Scorer Award in the Olympic Qualifier in 2012, earned the Best Attacker Award in 2009 and the Best Libero Award in 2008.
As a member of the Puerto Rican Indoor Volleyball League, he helped Capitanes de Arecibo win the league title in 2014 and he was part of a league championship team with Plataneros de Corozal in 2008 when he also won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He was runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting in 2011 and he was an All-Star from 2008-2016.
He is married to his wife, Evita, who he met at USC. They have two children, Jayden and Mia.
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