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Cal Poly Volleyball Coaching Staff
Sam Crosson, Head Coach
First Season
Pacific '97
Phone: (805) 756-2878
email: scrosson@calpoly.edu
Sam Crosson, an assistant coach at the University of California the past two seasons, was selected as head coach of the Cal Poly women’s volleyball program. The announcement was made Friday, Jan. 20, by Cal Poly director of athletics Don Oberhelman.
“I am very excited and humbled to become the next head coach of the Cal Poly women’s volleyball program,” said Crosson, Cal Poly’s fifth head coach in program history. “I would like to thank Don Oberhelman and his senior administrative staff for the opportunity to lead this program into the future.”
Crosson added, “With its ideal location, competitive academic environment, support from both the athletic department and great local fan base, I am confident Cal Poly will quickly rise to the top of the Big West Conference and become a nationally recognized volleyball program.”
Oberhelman said, “Sam understands Cal Poly’s mission and embraces our core values. He knows that our student-athletes must succeed in the classroom as well as on the court.”
Crosson helped guide the Golden Bears to the program’s most successful season ever, winning a share of the Pac-10 title and advancing to the NCAA Championship match during the 2010 season.
During that season, Cal tallied the most wins in school history (30) and produced two first-team All-Americans.
This past season, Cal posted a 26-7 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament while concluding Pac-12 play with a 16-6 record.
His duties at Cal included responsibility for video and statistical analysis as well as designing the offensive and defensive systems. Additionally he served as the point person on player development, specifically setters and middle blockers.
Prior to his joining California, Crosson spent the previous five years as the top assistant coach at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.
While at Saint Mary’s, he helped guide the Gaels to consecutive 20-win seasons including the second-best record in program history at 23-5. Saint Mary’s posted a perfect 13-0 mark at home and set school records with an 11-match winning streak and a 13-1 record in West Coast Conference matches, earning the program’s first-ever WCC title.
Crosson’s responsibilities as the top assistant with Saint Mary’s included serving as the recruiting coordinator, planning and executing practices, coordinating the offense, providing video and statistical analysis of practice and matches, and player development, including technical training for setters and middle blockers.
During his tenure as assistant coach with the Gaels, his recruiting classes were selected for high honorable mention by PrepVolleyball.com and included some of the top talent in the country.
At Saint Mary’s, the Gaels led the WCC in blocking each year and were second in the nation in blocks per set (3.82 bps) in 2005. In each of his first three seasons, a middle blocker under his direction was selected to the WCC All-Freshman Team (Shannon Lowell, 2007; Megan Burton, 2006; and Brittany Barker, 2005).
Prior to his time at Saint Mary’s, Crosson spent the 2004 season as a volunteer assistant with the Santa Clara women’s volleyball team. Before joining the coaching ranks in collegiate women’s volleyball, Crosson spent five years as the top assistant coach for the men’s program at his alma mater, University of the Pacific.
While at Pacific, Crosson was responsible for recruiting, player development, video and statistical analysis and assisted in academic support.
As a player at Pacific, Crosson was part of four of the most successful seasons in Pacific volleyball history. He was a four-year letterman and earned team co-MVP honors in 1997. He is ranked in the top 10 in every statistical category and holds the number two spot in career digs (689), digs in a single season (274), and service aces (86).
After his collegiate career, Crosson played one season as a professional for Herentals Volleyball Club in Belgium.
Crosson received a bachelor’s degree in sports sciences at Pacific in 1997 and later earned a master’s degree from Pacific in sports sciences in 2005.
A native of Santa Cruz, Crosson and his wife, Courtney Miller, have two daughters, Makenna and Logan.
Caroline Walters, Assistant
Coach
Third Season
Santa Clara '08
Phone: (805) 756-2850
email: cawalter@calpoly.edu
The
West Coast Conference’s all-time leader with 1,932 career
digs and a three-time All-WCC honorable mention selection, Caroline
Walters is in her third season as a member of the coaching staff
and was namned interim head coach in 2011. Also the Santa Clara
program’s career leader with a 4.59 assists-per-game average,
Walters’ primary on-court responsibilities with the Mustang
program include working with Cal Poly’s serve receivers and
down defenders while her off-court focus is geared toward the
coordination of recruiting efforts and a role in both internal and
external operations.
A three-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention
selection, Walters is owner of four of the top five single season
per-game dig marks in Santa Clara history. Walters enjoyed her top
collegiate campaign as a sophomore in 2005 when as her
conference-leading 516 digs – the third highest single-season
total in Santa Clara history – helped propel the Broncos to a
program-record 27 victories, a West Coast championship, a berth
into the NCAA Tournament national semifinals and a final No. 4
ranking in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Statistically, Walters’ 4.93 digs-per-game mark recorded as
a freshman in 2004 stands as the top single-season mark in Santa
Clara history.
With Walters in the lineup, Santa Clara posted an 84-34 aggregate
record, a 41-15 combined West Coast mark and failed to finish lower
than third in the conference standings during any of her four
seasons. Walters, a four-time program Defensive MVP selection and
three-year captain, appeared in 421 of a possible 428 sets during
her career. A native of Los Gatos, Calif., Walters earned a B.S. in
accounting from Santa Clara last year.
Walters arrived on the central coast following a year stint as an
assistant coach with the 18-Blue squad of the Los Gatos-based
Vision Volleyball Club, where she helped with practice planning and
on-court techniques and strategies.
Olivia Simko, Assistant
Coach
First Season
UC Santa Barbara '07
Phone: (805) 756-2850
email: owaldows@calpoly.edu
Olivia Simko, former AVCA All-American volleyball player from UC Santa Barbara, has been named an assistant coach with the Cal Poly program.
Simko was a four-time all-conference player at UCSB including co-freshman of the year, twice first-team selection and AVCA All-American honorable mention in 2006.
Prior to her tenure at UCSB, Simko redshirted her freshman season at the University of Nebraska in 2002 under coach John Cook.
Following her collegiate career she spent three years as a tournament player with the Association of Volleyball Professionals. She reached her highest ranking, 60th, during the 2009 season.
While at Irvine High School, Simko garnered Sea View League Co-MVP honors and was named to the All-CIF Division I First Team and was named Female Athlete of the Year for Orange County in 2002. She was ranked 16th by Volleyball Magazine’s “Fab 50” list.
Simko graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in global studies in 2007 and married John Simko in 2012.
