Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- emily.hiza@oregonstate.edu
Emily Hiza was promoted to the position of assistant coach in May, 2012 after spending the 2011 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Oregon State.
This past offseason, she was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 list. Of the recipients, 11 come from the Division I level. The honor is intended to recognize the sport’s uo-and-coming coaches.
Hiza continued develping a strong defense at Oregon State in 2014. Darby Reeder set the OSU single-season record with 615 digs, which placed her third in the Pac-12 Conference. Overall, the Beavers led the league in digs, and were second in digs per set.
Hiza mentored libero Becky Defoe for three of her four seasons at Oregon State, which were perhaps the finest defensive seasons in school history. Defoe, who ended her career in 2013, broke the school’s record for digs in a career and is one of just 10 players in Pac-12 history with 2,000 or more.
Defoe broke her own single-season record for digs with 591 in 2012, Hiza’s second year tutoring the Bend native.
In her first season with the Beavers, as the team’s volunteer assistant coach, she facilitated and oversaw training with an emphasis on individual and team defense and passing. She also coordinated the team’s community service efforts and founded “MiniBeavers” a program in which student-athletes mentor and tutor elementary school children.
Hiza was a standout player at the University of Iowa from 2005-08, earning Academic All-District honors twice and Big Ten Academic honors three years. The four-year team captain finished her Hawkeye career second in school history for digs with 1,929 and 12th for service aces with 97.
Upon her graduation she accepted a position in the private sector with an investment banking company. The native of Swink, Colo., also was the head coach of the Colorado Junior Volleyball Club for two years and since May of 2011 had been the head coach of the Boss Volleyball Club in Albany, Ore.
Hiza graduated from Iowa in 2009 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in finance and marketing, while earning a minor in Spanish.
