OUR COACHES
Who We Are
JEFF ALZINA
Head Coach
Jeff Alzina is the Santa Clara Bronco’s Beach Head Coach. Jeff is the winningest coach in AVP Beach Volleyball history, with more than 1,000 match victories on tour. Some career highlights include:
-2004 Olympic Games in Athens-NCAA National Championship with UCLA in 2018-2015 Pan American Games-more than 50 NCAA All -Americans-more than 30 Olympians worldwide-2017 U21 FIVB World Championships-2018 U19 World Championships
LEO TUNCER
Assistant Coach
Setter for UC Santa Cruz Men's Volleyball Team. Active AVP Men's Beach Volleyball player. CIF Playoffs with Santa Cruz High School. made Honor Roll. 2nd place at AAU National Championships with Bay to Bay VC.
LANCE MURET
Assistant Coach
Lance Muret is joining us from San Diego where he coached at WAVE Beach for the past 4 years. He is the volunteer assistant coach at Santa Clara University for the beach volleyball team. Lance graduated from UC San Diego where he played club indoor and trained on the beach year-round. He is a AA rated player and won the annual King of Spring tournament in San Diego this past year. We are super excited to have him on our coaching staff.
CLAIRE DOUD
Assistant Coach
FRESHMAN Santa Clara University  (2019-20)Participated in all 14 duals and went 5-9 (match-by-match results)0-6 on court three, 5-3 on court four3-7 with Brynn Paumen, 2-1 with Julia Sangiacomo, 0-1 with Kamaile ManolWon in straight sets vs. Pacific (March 4) on court four alongside Brynn Paumen, helping the Broncos to a 3-2 dual victory, the first in program history on the Mission campusWon in straight sets vs. Cal State Bakersfield (March 7) on court four alongside Brynn Paumen, helping the Broncos to a 3-2 dual victory at the Big West/WCC ChallengeWon a three-set match vs. Sacramento State (March 7) on court four alongside Brynn Paumen, helping the Broncos to a 4-1 dual victory at the Big West/WCC ChallengeHIGH SCHOOLGraduated from Archbishop Murphy High School (Everett, Washington) in 2019Four-letterwinner in volleyball for the Wildcats; team captain as a senior (2018)inishes: 3rd place 2016/6th place 2015Also played softball and ran track & field for the WildcatsHelped break the school record in the 4x100-meter relay
KELVYN DE LEON
Assistant Coach
Kelvyn was a 4-year varsity athlete at Madera High school. He played at Triumph Volleyball Academy. Currently he is also the volunteer assistant coach at De Anza college and is attending SJSU.
FAITH BARTLETT
Assistant Coach
Faith coaches for us during the summer months in Santa Cruz. She is currently a beach player at Cal Poly in their D1 Beach Program. She didn't start playing beach volleyball competitively until she was 16 ... but played indoor volleyball on varsity as a freshman and competed in track and field her senior year.
JACQUELINE HELER
Assistant Coach
Jac is a professional athlete with 5 years of experience playing at the NCAA Division I level, WAC and WCC conference honors, and 5 years of pro volleyball in the top leagues of France and Switzerland.
She spent 4 years as Content Editor and Performance Coach at Vivamea.com SA, an online and in-person self-coaching system at l'EPFL in Lausanne. Worked with multinationals such as AON, Unilabs, and the CHUV (in French and English).
She was the Founder and Director of Spikers Volleyball Camp, an annual international volleyball camp in Switzerland.
And she has been a volleyball coach for over 20 years. She was the head coach the Castilleja high school's Varsity program for 8 years and earned league and CCS championships. And she was the former Head Coach for the LNB VBC Fribourg team, University of Fribourg volleyball team, Varsity/JV programs at the International School of Lausanne, Assistant Coach at West Valley Junior College, and head and assistant coaching experience at nationally ranked Vision Volleyball Club in northern California.
TAYLOR FORD
Assistant Coach
Taylor attended Monte Vista High School for all four years … lettered one year in indoor volleyball as an outside hitter, then started the beach volleyball team at MVHS and was captain for two years … competed on USA High Performance U17 in summer of 2021 … also part of USA NationalTeam Development Program (NTDP) U19 in winter, spring, and summer of 2022 and spring 2023 and the NTDP U20 in summer of 2023 … placed first at AAU Nationals in 2021 and first at AVP Nationals in 2021 … played club volleyball for Kleos and Golden Gate Beach Volleyball Club (for beach) … won an AAU National Championship with partner Kaley Mathews (who also attends UCLA). Taylor coaches for us in Walnut Creek during the summers.
EMILY MATTOON
Head Coach
Coach Emily Mattoon is a Bay Area native having graduated from Bishop O'Dowd High School in 2018. Mattoon has 8 years of coaching experience and completed her collegiate career at Long Beach State in May, 2023. Alongside her studies, she led Millikan High School's JV volleyball team as head coach in 2021. During her time at Long Beach State, Mattoon was a 2022 AVCA Top Flight Award recipient, named to the 2022 All-Big West Second Team and earned 2023 All-Big West Honorable Mention. Mattoon concluded her career ranked number five in LBSU program history with 72 wins and 13th with a .720 career win percentage. Mattoon graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology, having majored in Sports Psychology and minored in General Psychology. She is so excited to be working at Mandala and helping to grow the sport in the Bay Area where she first learned to play.
ELENA RADEFF
Assistant Coach
Currently a senior at Santa Clara University in their D1 beach volleyball program. She is a 2x WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll Silver Honors (2020-21, 2021-22) WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll Bronze Honors (2022-23) AS A SOPHOMORE (2021-22): Had a 6-26 overall record ... played at all spots of the lineup except No. 1 ... went 1-8 at No. 2, 3-3 record at No. 3, 2-12 at No. 4 and 0-3 at No. 5 ... had the most wins while paired with Alexie Epstein with three winning a match at No. 2, 3 and 4.
RYAN LI
Assistant Coach
The recent grad of NYU was a starting setter for the #1 ranked Violets and averaged nearly 1 ace per set and was second on the team in assists. An avid beach player is also coaches for Bay to Bay.
AJ SLOJKOWSKI
Assistant Coach
AJ Slojkowski heralds from nearby El Dorado Hills, and boasts an impressive resume on the hard court, playing both basketball and indoor volleyball, as well as on the sand, where she won the 2022 Santa Cruz Juniors One Star Qualifier. She is currently playing D1 beach for St Mary's University and is a coach for us in Northgate.
