Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics
Weber State head volleyball coach Jeremiah Larsen, left, instructs player Kate Standifird during an exhibition match against Air Force on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, at Swenson Gym in Ogden.
After raising the Weber State volleyball program to an annual contender for Big Sky Conference championships, Jeremiah Larsen has earned a contract extension through the 2025 season, Athletic Director Tim Crompton announced Friday.
“Our Weber State women’s volleyball program has established itself as a perennial contender in Coach Larsen’s nine years,” Crompton said of extending Larsen. “We couldn’t be more excited about the future of Wildcat volleyball with Coach Larsen as our coach.”
During his eight-year tenure in Ogden, the revival of Wildcat volleyball has been nothing short of remarkable. Larsen’s teams have won 131 games overall and have reigned victorious in nearly 60% of their conference matches. His teams have won Big Sky Conference championships in 2020 and 2021 — Weber State’s first conference titles since 1988 — and have finished in the top three in the Big Sky standings in each of the last five years.
“I’m grateful that Weber State wants me to keep being the leader of this volleyball program,” Larsen said. “I’m grateful for all the kids who have come before this current situation that have helped us be everything that we are. I’m grateful that I get to do this for three more years and be with the type of players that I love to be with.
“I want to thank Tim Crompton, Norm Tarbox, and President (Brad) Mortensen for the belief they have in me to continue to lead this program and try to take it to places that it’s never been.”
During the 2020 season, Larsen did just that by guiding Weber State to its first Big Sky regular season championship, winning the conference tournament, and coaching WSU to its first-ever NCAA tournament win. The Wildcats have been no stranger to postseason success with Larsen at the helm. Weber State has advanced to national postseason tournaments in each of the last four seasons and have won a total of five matches in their postseason runs.
Larsen’s ability to develop players has been evident during the last nine seasons. He has developed and coached players to 21 All-Big Sky selections during his tenure. He has also recruited and developed two Big Sky Conference MVPs and Weber State’s first two All-Americans in outside hitters Rylin Adams and Dani Richins.
Under Larsen’s tutelage, setter Ashlyn Power also went on to break school and conference records. Power played in more sets than any other player in conference history, and her 5,696 career assists are the most by any Big Sky player in the rally-scoring era.
Weber State’s rise to prominence during Larsen’s tenure has enabled the ‘Cats to sign elite recruiting classes featuring multiple high school All-Americans.
Not only have Larsen’s teams had tremendous success on the court but they’ve been terrific in the classroom, too. In the last nine seasons, Weber State players have earned Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors 69 times, and his teams have had a GPA of 3.54 or higher every year since 2017.
Larsen has the second-most wins and the second-highest winning percentage (.572) of any coach in Weber State history.
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