VOLLEYBALL: Brad Lyans has been named the head volleyball coach at Ventura College. He takes the reins for 2013, his first with the Pirates, and looks to add to and enhance the program's rich volleyball tradition. To do so, the successful, long-time Southern California coach brings along an extensive coaching resume, coupled with an excellent understanding of the two-year college volleyball community in California.
Brad is no stranger to success on the junior college stage: he spent multiple years as first assistant coach for both the men's and women's volleyball programs at Los Angeles Pierce College, reaching the CCCAA Final Four with the former (2006) and winning three Western State Conference titles (2006-2008) and reaching another CCCAA Final Four with the latter. He was mentored by two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year and Pierce women's head coach Nabil Mardini. He has also logged two seasons with the NCAA Division I Cal State Northridge women's volleyball team under the direction of head coach and World Volleyball Hall of Famer Jeff Stork, helping that squad to a pair of third place finishes in the competitive Big West Conference.
As a teacher and trainer at the high school level, Brad has one of the most impeccable backgrounds one is likely to find. A Gold Medal Squared Certified Coach, he is a fixture on the GMS summer coaching circuit and one of the senior clinicians with the organization. Brad is also Head Clinician and one of the highest ranking coaches for the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy, one of the premier junior club volleyball organizations in the country with ten locations in Southern California and over 150 coaches. His club coaching experience is vast, with nearly a decade on the sidelines as his teams at the 15's and 18's levels went on to find great success, including a Volleyball Festival Championship in 2007 and a Junior National Championships appearance in 2012.
A two-sport high school athlete for Crescenta Valley High School Class of 1996 in the La Crescenta area of Southern California, Brad went on to earn All-Conference honors as a celebrated player for the 1999 CCCAA state runner-up Pierce College men's volleyball team. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from the College of Humanities at Cal State University, Northridge.
Coach Lyans is busy putting together his coaching staff and is ready to begin preparations for the 2013 Pirate volleyball season.