Ex-Cal coach Crosson chosen to lead Viking Volley
Former University of California, Berkely coach Sam Crosson is the new West Valley indoor and beach volleyball coach, WVC Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics John Vlahos recently announced. Crosson comes to Saratoga after four years with the PAC 12's Bears and seven seasons at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Prior to his head coaching stints with the Bears and the Mustangs, Crosson was an assistant for the men's program at UOP, his alma mater, and the women's indoor programs at Santa Clara and Saint Mary's. He was a Cal assistant from 2010-2012 before taking the head Cal Poly job.
Known for his technical savvy and recruiting, Crosson comes to West Valley with a high profile across all levels of collegiate volleyball.
"We are so excited to announce the hiring of Sam Crosson as our next volleyball coach," Vlahos said. "Not only was he an outstanding volleyball player, but he's also earned a reputation as a top-flight coach and an outstanding teacher."
His first year at Cal, in 2019, was Crosson's best in Berkeley. The Bears were 20-10 overall, 10-10 in the ultra-competitive Pac 12, and just missed an NCAA tournament berth. He amassed a 114-83 overall mark, 67-48 in the Big West, from 2012-2018 at Cal Poly.
After going 27-3 with a perfect 16-0 Big West record in 2017, Crosson was named the Big West and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific North Region Coach of the Year. The Mustangs went 25-3, 15-1 in conference, in 2018, earning Crosson his second consecutive Big West Coach of the Year award.
Crosson takes over a "Viking Volley" program that, under the recently retired Armen Zakarian, has become a CCCAA powerhouse both indoors and on the sand. In the last five years, Zakarian's indoor Vikings were 91-45 overall, 45-12 in the Coast Conference, with three straight Coast titles (2019-2022), a 2nd-place state finish (2021), a 5th-place state finish (2018) and five consecutive playoff berths. His beach Vikings were 50-28, 34-10 in the Coast, with a Coast title in 2019 and state runner-up pairs finishes in 2019 (Kaylin Henderson and Mapu Sekona) and 2022 (Katie Kishton and Flor Porras).
"To hire away a sitting head coach from a Power Five conference demonstrates what great opportunities community college jobs are," said Vlahos. "We are excited to watch Sam build off of the excellent foundation created by Armen Zakarian and take our program to the next level."
Crosson earned both his bachelor's and master's in sports sciences at Pacific. As a player, he was voted the team's MVP in 1997, and is still regarded as one of the top players in Tiger history. He ranks 3rd all-time in service aces (86), 5th in digs (689), 7th in kills (948), 15th in blocks (218), 17th in kills-per-set (2.88) and 22nd in assists (119). His 329 sets-played ranks 14th all-time in UOP history.
Crosson is the second NCAA D1 coach hired at West Valley in the last four years. Long-time Saint Mary's assistant Danny Yoshikawa took over the Viking men's basketball program in 2019 and has led WVC to a pair of Coast titles and two state championship tournament berths.
A Santa Cruz native, Crosson and wife Courtney have two daughters, Makenna, one of NorCal's top prep volleyball players, and Logan.