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Mozzochi sets volleyball up to win

In only four seasons after a winless 2000 campaign, the 2005 Viking volleyball team won 21 matches creating a school record for NCAA Division I and revitalizing fan support for the game.

Jeff Mozzochi is the coach behind the drastic change. He returned to the team in 2001 excited to reestablish a tradition of winning.

“If we improve our work ethic and intensity on the court, then the wins and losses will take care of themselves,” said Mozzochi before his return.

From 1984 to 1992, Mozzochi coached the Vikings to the NCAA’s highest heights. PSU won four NCAA Division II national championships and produced 19 All-Americans. The sport’s overall record under Mozzochi stood at 287-75, and the Vikings developed a rich volleyball tradition through the groundwork Mozzochi laid.

Following the 1992 season and the Vikings’ fourth national championship, Mozzochi accepted the head coaching job at Oregon State University. His departure left little wake for the next three seasons as the Vikings continued to produce wins. From 1993 to 1995, PSU was 83-27.

In 1996 the cracks began to show for the program as PSU entered its first season as a Division I sport and a member of the Big Sky Conference. The once mighty green and white fell to the bottom of the barrel. The 1996 Vikings finished ninth in the Big Sky with a record of 12-18.

The Vikings continued a downward spiral as the seasons piled up. They won 13 matches in 1997, seven in 1998 and two in 1999.

When Portland State offered Mozzochi his former coaching job in 2001, he had completed six successful seasons at Oregon State, coached in the USA national training program, and been inducted into the Portland State Athletic Hall of Fame. But even with this prestige, Mozzochi looked at the offer in a different light than some might have.

“I have strong feelings about the Portland State program,” Mozzochi said, “and I think I can help turn things around.”

The effort to build back up was slow but steady. The 2001 team finished 4-16, 2002 was 10-14, 2003 was 14-14, and 2004 was 14-17 overall.

Mozzochi's rebuilding efforts came to fruition this past season and the Big Sky Conference took notice. He was honored as the 2005 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year.

2005 volleyball highlights

• Improved record by seven matches from 2004, finishing 21-9 overall, 10-4 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings earned their highest Division I seeding, second, at the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
• Beat Sacramento State and Eastern Washington, two of the Big Sky’s elite teams, for the first time since joining the Big Sky Conference.
• Junior outside hitter Jessica Brodie, junior outside hitter Jessica Vanzant and senior setter Stephanie Lavigne earned a total of four Big Sky Player of the Week honors, the most for any Vikings team ever.
• Brodie and Vanzant were named to Big Sky Conference first team; Lavigne was named to Big Sky Conference second team.