Natalia Koryzna

Natalia Koryzna is the Head Volleyball Coach at Saint Leo University.

Natalia Koryzna was named the 15th head coach in the volleyball program's 41-year history on Friday, April 30, 2021.

Fast Facts
Alma mater: Dowling, 2007
Seasons coached: 5 seasons
Coaching record: 78-56 (.582)
Seasons coached at Saint Leo (2021-22): 1
Record at Saint Leo: 12-19

Coaching History
Koryzna joined the Lions after four years at the helm of the Westminster College program out of Fulton, Mo. In her four years as head coach at Westminster, Koryzna led the Blue Jays to four-straight St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournaments. Her team captured the regular season title in 2017 and advanced to the championship match in her very first season at the helm. She was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year for her efforts that season. After another postseason appearance in 2018, she led her team to the tournament title in 2019 earning the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1999. This past season, which was played in the spring of 2021, she led the Blue Jays to an 11-2 regular season mark before advancing to her third SLIAC Tournament Championship match, finishing with an impressive 13-3 record. The team achieved a national ranking in the AVCA Division III Poll for the first time in program and conference history and climbed all the way to No. 10.

She has also spent time as a coach and evaluator as part of the USA Volleyball High Performance Program which bridges the gap between our USA National Teams and youth volleyball programs across the country. This is done through a system of national tryouts, which then qualify athletes for training programs and the USA Youth and Junior National Teams.

Koryzna also served as the Club Director at Volleyball Pro Academy in Columbia, Mo. for five years overseeing all aspects of the club including scheduling, budgeting, fundraising and coaching.

She also has four years of assistant coach experience at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. She began her college coaching journey at her alma mater Dowling College in Oakdale, N.Y. She spent two seasons as an assistant coach including helping the team make back-to-back appearances at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2009 and 2010 while achieving a final AVCA National Ranking of No. 20. Following Dowling she spent two years as a head coach at Los Angeles Volleyball Academy in Studio City, Calif. before returning to the college ranks as an assistant at the University of Missouri St. Louis. She spent one season at UMSL before moving on to Stephens College in Columbia, Mo. for one season. Her final stop prior to Westminster brought her to Battle High School also in Columbia, Mo. where she served as head coach for one season.

Personal History
Prior to traveling to America to be a student-athlete at Dowling College she competed in beach and indoor volleyball in Poland. She achieved three top-three finishes at the University Beach Volleyball Tournaments from 2004-06. She also led her U15 club team to a Polish National Championship in 1998 and achieved runner-up status with her U17 and U19 clubs in 2000 and 2001.

She spent three seasons at Dowling College as a student-athlete including a pair of NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances in 2005 and 2006.

A native of Wroclaw, Poland, Koryzna graduated from Dowling College with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2007 before returning to DC and earning her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in management and leadership in 2011.