Kurt Vlasich

Kurt Vlasich is the Head Volleyball Coach at Claremont McKenna College.

Born and raised in the heart of the Inland Empire, Kurt Vlasich attended Claremont High School where he was part of the school's charter program, and has grown his local legacy to include an NCAA Division III national championship at CMS in 2017.

The 2017 national title squad finished the year with a school-record 31 wins, finishing 31-5 overall and 15-1 in the SCIAC. After leading CMS to a 30-1 record in 2022, including 10 straight weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Vlasich now has nine straight seasons of 23 or more wins, and seven straight seasons where he has guided the Athenas to at least a share of the regular season SCIAC title. His overall record in his 10 seasons now stands at 284-60, good for an .826 winning percentage, which includes an .856 percentage in SCIAC (149-25).

In his 10 seasons at the helm, Vlasich has earned at least one Coach of the Year Award in seven of them, including the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2021, when his time tied a program record with 31 wins (31-2) and reached the NCAA Semifinals. He also captured both the SCIAC and AVCA West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2018, and has been named the AVCA West Region Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015, and the SCIAC Coach of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2022.

Vlasich began coaching at CMS Volleyball in 2002 as an assistant for Dianna Graves, and was a fixture as the head assistant coach for nearly a decade. Over the next nine seasons, Vlasich helped build a team that made significant improvements from year to year, and finished in 2010 with an overall record of 18-11 and a 3rd place finish in SCIAC. In 2011, Vlasich was named interim coach of the CMS Volleyball program, and guided the CMS Athenas to a 19-11 record overall with a 10-4 conference record helping CMS make the SCIAC conference playoffs. In 2012, Vlasich was named Head Coach for CMS and 2012 saw similar production for the CMS Volleyball program finishing with a 17-10 overall record and a tie for 4th place in the SCIAC conference with Occidental College. 2013 turned out to be historic for the Athenas, as Vlasich led the team to a 25-7 record and an appearance in the NCAA tournament.

After a stellar 2013 season which accumulated 25 wins on the season, Vlasich led the Athenas to a 27-7 record in 2014 and a second place finish in the SCIAC conference. 2014 also saw a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament for the Athenas. In the 2014 NCAA tournament, CMS Volleyball won the NCAA Western Regional Championship and competed in the 2014 Volleyball Championships in Newport News, Virginia as one of the "Elite 8" teams. The CMS Volleyball team finished the 2014 season ranked nationally at number nine by the AVCA. CMS also stayed in the AVCA top 25 national rankings for the duration of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, making it the longest streak of rankings in program history. In 2013, Kurt Vlasich was named the AVCA Division III West Region Coach of the Year, and in 2014 was named SCIAC Coach of the Year.

Vlasich helped form a talented group of players at CHS, and started a men’s program with the Wolfpack in 1993. He played as a varsity middle blocker in 1993 and 1994 while helping the pack go into CIF both seasons. Vlasich went on to play for Pepperdine University from 1995-1998 under Marv Dunphy where he had successful seasons as both a training setter and a serving specialist during the 1997 season. He graduated from Pepperdine University in 1999 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Vlasich began his coaching experience when he came back to Claremont High in 1995, 1996, and 1997 as a volunteer assistant coach and setting coach with Don Braunecker. He helped train and develop setters for Claremont High School and worked with other players on a individual basis. Vlasich became JV Head Coach and Varsity assistant in 2001 for the Claremont Men’s program at CHS where he helped win 2 JV tournaments, and lead CHS varsity into the CIF playoffs.

After the 2001 season, Vlasich began coaching in the club ranks and coached the Foothill Volleyball Club Men’s 18-1 team. In the summer of 2001, Vlasich brought a team with below .500 average to over .500 and a substantial improvement at JO’s leading the 18-1 program to flight brackets. The following summer, Vlasich coached the Foothill Boys 18-1 program into the Bronze bracket at Junior Olympics, where his team captured first place in the bronze bracket (12th overall).

In 2002, Vlasich began coaching for an upstart volleyball club in the Inland Empire called Club West Volleyball. From 2003 to 2011, Vlasich was the club director for Club West Volleyball, and also coached at the 17’s and 18’s age groups. Vlasich has coached the Club West 18-1 and 17-1 teams for 11 seasons, and made Junior Olympic appearances in 10 of his 12 seasons. Most notably have been the past 4 seasons, where his 18-1 team has made 4 consecutive 18 Open appearances, and included a seventh place finish Nationally in 2011. In 2014, Vlasich was part of a team of coaches and administrators who formed a new volleyball club called "Forza 1 Volleyball Club" based in Temecula and Ontario.

Coach Vlasich is married to Cindi Vlasich, and they have two daughters named Rylan and Arden. They currently reside in Upland, California.