Three-time Olympian Paula Weishoff finished the 2023 season with an all-time record of 286-127 as the head coach at Concordia University Irvine and is the volleyball program’s all-time winningest coach. The former USC Trojan helped Team USA win the silver medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics hosted in Los Angeles and also the bronze in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Weishoff had two stints as the leader of the CUI women's volleyball team. Weishoff first served as CUI head coach from 2004-2008 and returned to Concordia in 2015 after serving as the head coach at UC Irvine for six seasons. Including her time with the Anteaters, Weishoff holds an impressive overall record of 370-225. The 2019 Concordia squad delivered her career win No. 300 in the first week of the regular season, which helped set the tone for an impressive 18-12 campaign that included a dozen PacWest Conference victories.
Last fall, CUI went 14-6 in the PacWest Conference and 17-10 overall. CUI was led by outside hitter Kirra Schulz who was named First Team All-Conference and etched her name in multiple categories in the school record books.
In the 2021 season, she helped lead CUI to a 20-7 overall record and a 15-5 mark in league play. The Eagles went 11-2 in their last 13 matches and also an impressive 11-2 overall on their home floor with seniors Brianna Latigue, Hannah Tostado and Patience O'Neal leading the charge. By finishing in third place in the PacWest and just two games out of first, CUI posted its highest finish in five years.
Under her leadership, the Eagles claimed the first PacWest Conference title for CUI in any sport in 2016 with a 17-3 conference mark and a 26-3 overall record. Following their successful run, Weishoff was named the 2016 PacWest Coach of the Year and five of her players earned All-PacWest honors. The Eagles also went undefeated on the road that season.
The following season, her team placed fourth in the conference and boasted four All-PacWest selections in 2017. This included Rachel Flynn who became the first CUI women's volleyball player to earn AVCA All-American honors.
In her first season with UCI in 2009, Weishoff had immediate success. She led the Anteaters to a 22-8 overall record, becoming the first coach since 1977 to lead the women’s volleyball program to a winning season in her first year at the helm. That year, the Anteaters set a program record with a .733 win-loss percentage. The UCI program had a resurgence in 2014 as well, when the Anteaters went 19-12 and finished in fifth place in the Big West.
In her first coaching stint at Concordia, Weishoff guided CUI to the NAIA finals twice and the NAIA semifinals on two other occasions. Weishoff was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 2008 after leading the Eagles to a 31-6 overall record and the national championship match. She led CUI to their first NAIA Tournament appearance in 2004.
She has coached 10 NAIA All-Americans, including 2008 first-team selections Traci Weamer and Stephanie Scheele, and 16 of her players were named to the All-GSAC team during her tenure at Concordia. She also coached 2004 NAIA Player of the Year Raquel Ferreira.
Weishoff was also part of three NCAA Division I National Titles at USC. One was as a player in 1980 and the other two came when she was an assistant coach for the Trojans during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. She started her coaching career at USC in 1997, serving as the primary recruiting coordinator for seven years before being promoted to associate head coach in 2003. In 2005, Weishoff was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame.
During her professional career, she played overseas in Japan, Brazil and Italy. Weishoff was named the MVP after leading the Daiei Volleyball Club (Japan) to the 1995 pro league championship. She was a four-time MVP in Italy (1986-89) and spent 10 years playing for various teams in the Italian First (A1) Division.
The former middle blocker has been involved with USA Volleyball as a coach for more than a decade and joined the organization in 1998 as an instructor for the USA High Performance Camp. She was an assistant on the youth national team that won the silver medal at the 2000 NORCECA Youth Tournament and captured gold as an assistant with the A2 training team in Atlanta in 2003. In 2008 Weishoff led the juniors team to gold at the NORCECA Women’s Junior Tournament.
Weishoff was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the All-Time Great Player Award that same year. She was also named to the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary All-Era (1978-2002) Team in 2003.
Weishoff, a three-time Olympian, also served two seasons as an assistant coach with the U.S. Women’s National Team and helped Team USA capture a silver medal at the 2012 London Games. It was Weishoff’s first appearance in the Olympics as a coach, but represented three decades of involvement with USA Volleyball.
She represented Team USA as a player at the 1984, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, earning Most Valuable Player of the 1984 team in Los Angeles. Following a silver medal in those games, Weishoff was selected as the USOC Female Volleyball Athlete of the Year and her Olympic ambitions continued in Barcelona, Spain, where she guided Team USA to a bronze medal and was voted the MVP of the 1992 Games.
Her playing time with the national team began in 1981, winning gold at the 1981 and 1983 NORCECA Championships as well as the 1995 World Grand Prix. She also captured silver at the 1983 Pan American Games and bronze at the 1982 World Championships, 1986 Goodwill games and the 1992 FIVB Super Four.
Weishoff is a graduate of West Torrance High School in Torrance, Calif. where she lettered in volleyball, track, soccer and softball. She won a silver medal in volleyball at the 1979 U.S. Olympic Festival and was named MVP at the 1980 U.S. Junior Olympics.
Weishoff returned to USC and graduated in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in humanities and a minor in business.
Weishoff and her husband, Karl Hanold, reside in Huntington Beach.
