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Mike Talamantes

Head Coach (1st Season)


Mike Talamantes begins his first year at the helm of Park University's volleyball programs in 2011-12, becoming the sixth head coach in the history of the men’s volleyball program, and the seventh head coach in the history of the women’s program at Park University.

Talamantes comes to Park after his most recent stop as the head women’s volleyball coach at Occidental College, an NCAA Division III institution in Los Angeles, Calif., where he coached the Tigers for three seasons, from 2008 to 2010.

In 2008, Talamantes overhauled an Occidental program that had averaged four wins per year in the previous five seasons. He led Occidental to a 5-5 finish in its last 10 matches of the 2008 season, and the Tigers won more matches than any Occidental squad in eight years despite going without a senior, putting a starting lineup on the floor that included just three student-athletes with prior collegiate playing experience.

The 2009 season brought more change to the Occidental volleyball program under Talamantes’ tutelage, when the Tigers completed their best season since 2001, posting 15 wins and the program’s best conference finish in nine seasons.

On the heels of a nine-player freshman class, Occidental won the Tiger Fall Classic tournament championship, and the team had its first all-conference player since 2002. Occidental also beat a regionally ranked program, defeating Pomona Pitzer, helping the team finish 7-2 over its final nine matches, missing the conference tournament by one spot.

In 2010, Talamantes put his finishing stamp on the Occidental women’s volleyball program, leading the Tigers to a 25-8 record, one of the most successful seasons in school history. His Tigers posted a school-record 12-match winning streak, only after a 10-match winning streak earlier in the season, helping the team reach as high as No. 3 in its regional rankings, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III national poll.

Occidental beat its first nationally ranked opponent since the 2001 season, using four sets to knock off Redlands in September, and the team secured its first postseason appearance since 1983, finishing second in the SCIAC, its best showing in the conference since 1992.

Talamantes coached an All-American in 2010, as sophomore outside hitter Logan Boyer-Hayse was an AVCA All-American at season’s end, after earning MVP honors at the Tiger Fall Classic, All-Tournament at Colorado College’s Marriott Spike It Up Classic, First-Team All-SCIAC and First-Team All-West Region. Talamantes also coached a pair of freshmen who earned individual accolades, including Jessie Altman’s all-tournament awards at Colorado College and Stephanie Gann’s all-conference and all-region honors at season’s end. Gann was also the first student-athlete in Occidental’s volleyball program history to be named SCIAC’s Freshman of the Year.

Prior to Talamantes’ three-year stint at Occidental, he was a successful boys’ and girls’ high school coach in California, coaching the girls at Rosary High School in Orange County, helping transform a program that had not qualified for the playoffs in its previous six seasons, leading Rosary to four-straight playoff appearances and helping the program to top 10 recognition in Division One and in Orange County.

His girls’ teams battled some of the top high school programs in California, including Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita, members of the rugged Trinity League. In his final three seasons at Rosary, Talamantes led the Royals to a semifinal appearance in 2005, followed by back-to-back appearances in the round of 16.

In addition to his girls’ coaching duties at Rosary, Talamantes also coached the boys’ volleyball team at Viewpoint High School in the San Fernando Valley. He led Viewpoint boys’ volleyball to new heights, winning four consecutive CIF championships, putting together three-straight 30-win seasons and a finish in the top 10 in the Daily News final poll in three of his final four seasons.

Through his prep career, Talamantes trained players that went on to play at Cal, UC-Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, USC, Le Moyne College, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Dominguez Hills, St. Peter’s, Newbury College, Florida International, San Diego State, UCLA, Army, Regis, Occidental and Embry-Riddle.

Jenn Lee
Assistant Coach (3rd Season)


Jenn Lee is also about to embark in her third year on the volleyball coaching staff at Park University, coming to the Pirates after a successful playing career in both volleyball and basketball at Kansas Wesleyan University.

She is responsible for assisting with the day-to-day operations of the women's volleyball program, including assisting the sports information department with statistical record keeping at road matches.

Lee was a member of the Coyote volleyball squad in 2008, where she served as the team’s setter, averaging seven assists per game with 11 matches of 30 assists or more and 874 total assists during the 2008 season.

She also finished her senior campaign with 41 kills and 12 service aces, and defensively, Lee was third on the team in digs, averaging 2.7 per game and totaling 342 on the year.

Lee played for the Kansas Wesleyan basketball program in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons under head coach Gordon Reimer, scoring 117 points in two seasons while passing out 52 assists in the Coyote backcourt.

She was a 71-percent career free-throw shooter for the Coyotes and defensively, she picked up 30 steals in two seasons at KWU.

Prior to her three-year, two-sport career at Kansas Wesleyan, Lee played at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, Calif., where she was an all-conference basketball and volleyball player, helping the Marauder basketball team to the 2005 California State Final Four.

Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Kansas Wesleyan and she is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Park University in Healthcare Leadership.

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