Cal State LA’s women’s volleyball team made history last year, winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship for the first time in program history. Coming off such a historic season, head coach Juan Figueroa knows how high the standards have been set for them.
“We’ve been a target now for a long time but the teams always want to beat the number one team,” said Figueroa. “When we go, the gyms are packed. People are super excited to play us.”
Just ahead of the season, Cal State LA was ranked first in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference coaches preseason poll. Figueroa expected as such.
“That’s just kind of standard. You won last year, so they put you up there,” he said.
Although they were the eventual national champions, the team’s 2023 campaign didn’t get off to a great start. Following an appearance in the final four in the NCAA tournament from the previous season, Cal State LA ended their preseason games with a 2-6 record, the worst start to a season under Figueroa’s tenure as head coach.
“The expectations were pretty high for us and I think that we had a really hard time with the expectations that people were putting on us and it was a lot of pressure. Everybody was coming after us,” Figueroa said.
Figueroa helped turn it around just in time for the regular season by regrouping and going back to basics.
The Golden Eagles finished their regular season with a 15-3 conference record, giving them a first round bye in the CCAA tournament. They made it to the finals, falling 3-1 to Cal State San Bernardino (CSUSB), but that wouldn’t be the last of their matchups.
“I think that was a blessing for us because it kind of helped us get back to the basics, watch film, see how we can improve,” said Figueroa.
In the NCAA West Regionals, Cal State LA stampeded through the competition, winning 3-1 in the first round against Seattle Pacific, and 3-0 in the semi-finals against Chaminade. In the final, they played CSUSB again to cap off the season matchups. Cal State LA did its homework and was riding the motivation wave from the CCAA loss to comeback in the West Regional final, and sweep their rival 3-0 to punch its ticket into the NCAA Elite Eight.
Entering the Elite Eight as the sixth seed, they had to take down three of the top five seeded teams to win the championship, including the reigning champs West Texas A&M. Though, the toughest matchup in the Elite Eight, Figueroa said, was in the quarterfinal against Wayne State.
“It was really hard for us. They were very middle heavy and they were doing some things that were different for us and I knew after seeing all the teams there, that that was going to be our toughest match,” said Figueroa. “After we won that one, I was pretty confident that we had a chance to win the championship.”
As the new season rolls around, some players have left and new ones have joined through the recruiting process. Figueroa is optimistic about the players on this year’s team.
“We lost some players but we got some players as well so I think that’s going to be the question mark around our team but I am very confident that we probably have more talent than we had last year,” said Figueroa.
Figueroa also expressed excitement about the upcoming season.
“I’m excited that teams probably think that we’re going to be bad or we’re not going to be strong enough, that we’re not going to be the same as last year,” said Figueroa. “I’m excited to keep proving people wrong about Cal State LA and making them respect us.”
Cal State LA opens up its season on Sept. 5 against Biola University at 2:30 p.m. in Coussoulis Arena for the Yotes Classic Showcase. The regular season starts Sept. 19 at Sonoma State University at 5 p.m. The home opener is Sept. 27 against Cal State San Marcos at 5 p.m. in the University Gym.
This article was first published in the August 28 print edition of the University Times.
