CSULB women’s volleyball team officially has a new head coach as the school recently announced the signing of Tyler Hilderbrand to take over for the program.
Hilderbrand is a familiar face for The Beach as he is a former CSULB All American and helped The Beach reach a National Championship as a setter in 2005 for the men’s volleyball program.
Before becoming the head coach for The Beach, Hilderbrand played professionally for the U.S. Men’s National team in 2006-2012. Followed by that, he would find himself coaching at Long Beach for the men’s team as an assistant from 2013-2015. From 2017-2021, Hilderbrand would switch back and forth as a coach for the University of Nebraska and for the U.S. Olympic Beach team.
Hilderbrand is now the head coach of his former alma mater and he compares it to a dream come true.
“We see, bleed black and gold, and everybody that’s an alum knows what it’s what we’re talking about,” Hilderbrand said.
“There’s no alumni base that has got many really historic players, and we think that’s a huge part of our program, and our girls need to know that,” Hilderbrand said. “They need to be reminded of that our fans need to be reminded of that with content, and certainly our recruits need to be aware of all that.”
Hilderbrand will be the sixth head coach in the women’s volleyball program at CSULB and is ready to take on the challenge, as he mentioned his experience from coaching at Nebraska and for the U.S. Olympics team has helped get him ready for this challenge and has put him in the right position to succeed as the next head coach.
“I’ve had really incredible mentors, I’ve coached with the best of the world, played with the best in the world,” Hilderbrand said. “So all those experiences help, being at a power five like Nebraska, and understanding what it’s like to have, you know, run a real professional program has helped.”
One player that Hilderbrand is excited to coach at The Beach is Outside Hitter, Kashuna Williams. Hilderbrand originally recruited her to Nebraska in 2017, but she would wind up transferring to Long Beach shortly after Hilderbrand took the position for the U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball team.
Now the two are back together as Williams recently had an incredible Junior year in which she led The Beach in kills with 452. Williams is set to enter her senior year with a familiar coach who has been watching her play for a long time.
Coach Hilderbrand is focused on the 2022 season as he has his eyes set on winning the Big West next year. He believes that recruiting from the high school level and utilizing the NCAA transfer portal will help him get the team ready to play next season.
“I am excited about our roster, you saw what they did at the end of year last year, they were proving that they can win the Big West. Our goal is to win the Big West next year. I think that’s attainable with the roster we have, but we’re also going to be adding to that roster,” Hilderbrand said. “2021, the transfer portal is recruiting now, you know, it’s a monster.”