Yelena Skazka

Yelena Skazka is the former Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach at UC Santa Cruz and current coach at Mountain View Volleyball Club. Skazka is also currently pursuing her Master's degree in Physical Education at Azusa Pacific University.

Yelena Nash (nee Skazka) is very familiar with and not afraid of hard work nor long hours, with her inner drive that has allowed for success in coaching both at the professional and college levels (i.e. UCLA, USC, CSUDH, Stanford), as well as varsity high school and local club circuits in Southern California. Currently, she is a coach at Mountain View Volleyball Club and formerly coached at Main Beach Volleyball Club. Yelena has 5 years of competitive international experience, playing for Russian, Serbian, and Turkish Clubs, as well as playing in FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) World Tournaments. She earned her Bachelor of Physical Education & Sports from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Culture & Sports in July 2008. There, she competed on the Azerbaijan Women’s National Team as a “Spiker” for both indoor and sand volleyball, as well as being as the captain for the Junior National Volleyball Team. She was selected as a National Olympic Qualifier in 2003, led the Azerbaijan Women’s National Team to 1st place in the Azerbaijan Sand Volleyball Championship in 2005, and again during the World Championship in 2008. Recently, she assisted the Junior Olympics New Orleans Team in 2015 and helped coach teams to reach the CIF Championship (Division III), CIF State Final (Division II), and achieve 1st Place in the Del Rey League in 2016. Yelena is a member of the prestigious Gold Medal Squared organization for volleyball coaches. She married Anthony Nash in June 2019 and has a 4-year-old child now. She completed her second Bachelor of Divinity at the Moscow Soul Academy and is currently studying for a Master of Science in Physical Education at Azusa Pacific University.