LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran announced Natalie Reagan as the Interim Head Coach of the Women's Volleyball program. In addition to spending last season as the top assistant coach at the Beach, Reagan owns several years of experience having coached high-level volleyball at both the collegiate and high school levels.
"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead the Long Beach State Women's Volleyball program," Reagan said. "I want to thank (Executive Director of Athletics) Bobby Smitheran and (Senior Associate Athletics Director) Mark Edrington for the faith they have put in me. The support from the Long Beach community has been overwhelming. Our team is ready to finish what we have started, and we are excited to get back to work."
In her first year at the Beach, Reagan was instrumental in guiding the team to their first 20-plus win season since 2016 and an appearance in The Big West Championship match as the squad concluded the 2023 season with a 21-10 overall record and a 13-5 conference mark.
Under Reagan's tutelage, Long Beach State earned several historic wins during the preseason. The Beach took down defending National Champion and top-ranked Texas in four sets at the Walter Pyramid to open the season. LBSU also picked up a 3-1 win over Indiana marking the program's first victory over a Big Ten opponent in 2015. Finally, Long Beach State swept Arizona on the road to mark the program's first road sweep over a Pac-12 opponent since 1992.
In addition to those key preseason victories, Long Beach State had a very successful conference season as well. On September 29, the Beach earned a long-awaited win over Hawaii as they downed the Rainbow Wahine in three sets to snap an 11-match losing streak which dated back to 2016 against the Bows. The sweep was LBSU's first such victory over Hawaii since 1997.
Following Reagan's first season as assistant coach at Long Beach State, the program garnered five All-Big West selections marking the first time since 2018 the program landed five on the All-Conference Team. Headlining the All-Conference squad was Zayna Meyer who was named Big West Setter of the Year as she became the first LBSU player to win a major Big West All-Conference award since 2014. Meyer went on to be named AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention. Joining Meyer on the Big West All-Conference First Team was Katie Kennedy, while Elise Agi and Natalie Glenn took home All-Second Team accolades, and Kameron Bacon was an Honorable Mention selection.
"Natalie has been a proven winner throughout her volleyball career and has learned under some of the best coaches in the nation, and I am excited for her to take the reins of our women's volleyball program," Smitheran said. "Her on-court acumen and leadership style will position our current student-athletes for success while maintaining an eye to the future with her tireless recruiting work ethic, allowing the program to build upon the established positive momentum.
"Natalie's passion and energy for student-athletes and Long Beach State Volleyball is something I am also excited for our tremendous fans and volleyball community to experience during the 2024 season."
Reagan came to the Beach after serving as the head coach at Harvard-Westlake. While coaching the Wolverines, she helped Harvard-Westlake win the Division I Southern Regional Championship, the highest division state championship of any sport at Harvard-Westlake. Additionally, the Wolverines won the California State Championships. For her efforts, Reagan was named AVCA All-Region Coach of the Year, and was an AVCA Thirty Under 30 award winner.
Prior to her time at Harvard-Westlake, Reagan worked at Loyola Marymount as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for four years. At LMU, Reagan helped the Lions win their first NCAA Tournament match since 2015. She also brought in back-to-back Top 30 recruiting classes. Additionally, she was responsible for scouting and analyzing opponents, while also training the Lions in defense and blocking.
Previously, Reagan worked at Nebraska as the team's technical coordinator. During her stint at Nebraska, she was part of three NCAA Tournament Teams and helped the Huskers capture the 2015 National Championship as well as the Big Ten conference title in 2016.
Reagan played collegiately at Oregon State before transitioning into a coaching role as the assistant director of volleyball operations. As director of operations, Reagan assisted with practice setup, ran Data Volley and statistical analysis.
Additionally, Reagan has also gained experience coaching with USA Volleyball as an assistant coach and technical coordinator. She worked with the 2016 USA National Team and Pan Am Cup Teams.
