Eryn Leja-Martin is in her second season at Concordia after coming to Irvine as the new head coach of the women’s volleyball program in July 2024.
In her first season, the Golden Eagles won 16 games and went 11-9 in the PacWest. Concordia opened the year 5-1, swept Biola and Westmont, and notched key road wins over Hawaii Hilo and APU. Sophomore Kayden Croy was named First Team All-PacWest and led the team with 351 kills.
A graduate of Concordia’s well-regarded MCAA program (Master’s of Coaching & Athletic Administration), Leja-Martin brings extensive head coaching experience and success from her time spent in Southern California.
An alum and former Academic All-American at Chapman University, she enjoyed successful stints as the head coach of the women’s volleyball programs at Vanguard and the University of Saint Katherine. She earned career win No. 200 as a head coach in 2023, and is 212-116 overall across ten seasons prior to coming to CUI.
Before getting hired at CUI, Leja-Martin led Saint Katherine to 30 wins and a top seed in their conference tournament in their final season as a school. That unique season featured a 25-game winning streak and a 17-5 home record. In addition to her coaching duties, she served as Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations, juggling multiple roles as a leader at USK. The Firebirds won an average of 24 games over the course of her last three seasons at USK.
Prior to that success, Leja-Martin led Vanguard to its first ever GSAC title in 2015 and to the NAIA National Tournament five times in six years. She also was one of the youngest head coaches in the nation when she earned a promotion after just one year as a Vanguard assistant. She amassed an impressive 126-78 record during her time with the Lions.
In between her stops at those two NAIA programs, she also served three seasons as a top assistant at NCAA Division I Houston Baptist University. She became associate head coach after helping the Huskies make their conference tournament three years in a row and lining up multiple seasons with double-digit wins.
Her stellar playing career included stops at the College of the Desert and UC Riverside before she graduated from Chapman. She grew up in Thermal, California and starred at La Quinta High School.
