{"id":51793,"date":"2025-11-13T20:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/51793\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T20:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:54:09","slug":"natalie-reagan-a-natural-leader-for-long-beach-state-womens-volleyball-the562-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/51793\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalie Reagan A Natural Leader for Long Beach State Women\u2019s Volleyball \u2013 The562.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by\u00a0Marilyn Bohl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Years ago, Natalie Reagan was sitting at a diner with some fellow volleyball coaches. As their server came around with a fresh pot of coffee, he started with one of her male co-workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like a refill, boss?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then his eyes shifted to Reagan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow \u2018bout you, sweetie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalie Reagan retells that story from inside Walter Pyramid, minutes after running a Long Beach State women\u2019s volleyball practice. Reagan is in the middle of her second season as head coach of the Beach, and it feels as if that cup of coffee was a central piece of her origin story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at him and I asked, \u2018Why am I not boss?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A Farmer\u2019s Daughter<\/p>\n

Growing up in Santa Cruz wine country, a career in athletics was certainly not bestowed upon a young Natalie Reagan. In fact, she sees herself as the \u201cblack sheep\u201d of the family for not following suit in the wine industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up a farmer\u2019s daughter, so all of our chores were on the vineyard and the vines,\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe were spraying, weeding, netting, whatever the wine needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did get to play a wide variety of sports growing up\u2013everything from water polo to track and field, soccer, horseback riding, and more. When she brought home a flyer for a Pop Warner team, her dad wondered if she wanted to be a cheerleader. Not exactly.<\/p>\n

Though she could never convince her parents to let her play football, she would eventually find volleyball in eighth grade, when a PE teacher noticed her height and encouraged her to try out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really fell in love with it,\u201d Reagan said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a unique sport, with how concentrated the human interaction is within a small space. And I\u2019ve always loved that team camaraderie of it, that it\u2019s not something you can do by yourself. You need your teammates with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Natural Leader<\/p>\n

Natalie\u2019s love for volleyball and her ability on the court opened doors for her at the next level. She played Division 1 volleyball at Oregon State for Hall of Fame head coach Terry Liskevych, who she still considers a close mentor to this day.<\/p>\n

When her playing career was cut short due to injury, Liskevych pulled her aside and asked if she\u2019d had an interest in coaching. Other than earning a reputation for being \u201cbossy\u201d as a child, Reagan said she hadn\u2019t really considered that option, but was open to giving it a shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe kept me on the coaching staff for the rest of my college career, and that\u2019s really when my coaching career started,\u201d Reagan explained. \u201cIt\u2019s been this incredible cultivation of understanding what this natural leadership energy was within me, and helping young women grow in such an exciting field. So I didn\u2019t know that I always wanted to coach, but I figured it was worth pursuing, and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

After coaching at her alma mater, Reagan went on to a successful stint at Nebraska, where she worked with another Hall of Fame coach in John Cook. She also crossed paths with a number of influential coaches like Chris Tamas, Dani Busboom, and even a few Long Beach State volleyball alums in Tyler Hildebrand and Bre Mackie, who has been a particularly valuable confidant as a young female head coach at Ole Miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really thankful to have such an incredible network around me,\u201d said Reagan. \u201cWe lean on each other a lot, and talk a lot about the female head coaching role. I think it is so special and important to have those people that you can call in those moments, because it\u2019s a hard place to be. They always say leadership\u2019s lonely at the top, and we\u2019re able to lean on each other for support in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breaking The Stigma<\/p>\n

According to data from the NCAA Demographics Database, 74 percent of the 6,846 Division 1 head coaches are men, despite the fact that just 53 percent of the student-athletes they coach are men.<\/p>\n

Though it has lessened gradually over the years, there remains a societal stigma around women in leadership positions. Reagan said she had a few female coaches when she was younger, but never at the collegiate ranks.<\/p>\n

What makes her situation particularly interesting, is that she\u2019s surrounded by an all-male coaching staff. It\u2019s a unique dynamic, but one that she hopes will become less noteworthy over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the reality of life, right? So to not think about it, I think you\u2019d be sticking your head in the sand and just not understanding what\u2019s actually happening,\u201d Reagan said. \u201cAt the end of the day, that stigma, it\u2019s just that. I try not to breathe life into it, but I\u2019m human, so there\u2019s always that feeling of, \u2018Are we enough in this moment?\u2019 But just trusting my experience has gotten me here, and I know that I know my stuff. So I\u2019m able to lean on that and trust that in those tough moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LBSUVSOREGONSTATE\"Jordan Molina (left) has been part of Reagan\u2019s coaching staff the past two seasons at Long Beach State. Photo by Rasheed Riveroll Castillo<\/p>\n

Her support staff is comprised of Associate Head Coach Naseri Tumanuvao, assistant coaches Michael Ma and Jordan Molina, and Statistical Coordinator Jon Parry. Those last two have been with Reagan for each of the past two seasons, and Molina says there\u2019s a healthy dynamic for all coaches to communicate freely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have Nat\u2019s back,\u201d said Molina, a two-time national champion as a player for the Beach. \u201cThere\u2019s no weird power dynamic, we\u2019re all on the same page and we\u2019re okay with giving each other feedback \u2026 I feel super comfortable going to her with anything, not just volleyball, but life in general. It\u2019s a really unique relationship in that sense, like I know she\u2019s my boss, but also at the end of the day, I know she really cares for all of us. Which is, for me at least, what\u2019s most important for who I choose as my mentors or as my boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trust is an extremely important factor for Reagan in those staffing decisions, and she\u2019s always been focused on putting the right people around her, regardless of gender.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving an all-male staff is unintentional in that sense,\u201d she said. \u201cI would love to hire a female, but it\u2019s just the right people at the right time. And it\u2019s really, really cool in the male-dominated industry to have incredibly supportive male assistants and not feel threatened or undermined at all. I know a lot of situations where that would be really easy for people, so I\u2019m really, really thankful. I\u2019m only as strong as my staff, and that\u2019s been incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exhausted All The Time<\/p>\n

The 2025 season is particularly meaningful for Reagan. Not just because it\u2019s her first year as permanent head coach, after getting her \u201cinterim\u201d tag removed last November. It\u2019s meaningful because she\u2019s currently expecting her first child, and is actively coaching during the third trimester of her pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\"2025Now in her third trimester, LBSU head coach Natalie Reagan is leading by example, taking on the physical challenge of coaching full-time while pregnant. Photo by Joseph Kling<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a unique experience for both her and the team, as they get to share in the new experience together. She said her players ask questions all the time about her pregnancy journey, and it\u2019s brought them closer as player and coach to have such meaningful \u201creal life\u201d conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really thankful to be happy and healthy, and everyone\u2019s in a good place, but honestly, I\u2019m just exhausted all the time,\u201d Reagan admitted. \u201cNaseri will follow me around the whole practice with a chair, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Do you want to sit? Do you want to sit?\u2019 And the girls are constantly checking on me if I need to rest or take a breath or whatever. So that\u2019s been really nice. But, yeah, it\u2019s quite the adventure, quite the roller coaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her due date isn\u2019t until January, but preparations and precautions must be taken in advance. Should the Beach make a deep run in the postseason, she would be in a \u201cno fly zone\u201d during the most important point of the season. Reagan says she\u2019ll give birth on a plane if she has to, and wouldn\u2019t miss a chance to lead her team in the Sweet 16 if the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n

Even before then, with an upcoming trip to Hawai\u2019i on Nov. 22 for Long Beach State\u2019s regular season finale, accommodations have already been made with her doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my strict instructions with that, and then I basically just need to know where the nearest hospital is,\u201d Reagan explained. \u201cMy staff is prepped in case anything happens, but it really is just a day-by-day, feel-by-feel, and then trying to maintain that balance of stress, or rest, or food, and putting the team first. So it\u2019s quite the balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilding the Culture<\/p>\n

After leading the Beach to a 19-11 record in her debut season, Reagan and her coaching staff have revamped a roster that lost its top eight players by sets played, welcoming 10 new faces into the program this offseason.<\/p>\n

Now in 2025, the new-look Beach are 17-8 with four matches left in the regular season. They\u2019re on track to be one of the top four seeds in the Big West Women\u2019s Volleyball Tournament, which will be hosted in Long Beach during Thanksgiving week.<\/p>\n

Reagan said she\u2019s pleased with how the group has come together. Players have taken on different positions from last year, while others have changed mid-season, but the Beach have found a way to succeed during the turmoil. She attributes that to the culture of the program\u2013not what was laid out for this group, but what the players have created themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the culture is what they make it. They are the culture,\u201d Reagan said. \u201cIt\u2019s a living, breathing thing. It\u2019s not this document that\u2019s in a binder and then it\u2019s solidified forever. They worked really, really hard this spring, this summer, and in double days to set that tone and set that standard, and having 10 new players as part of that can be a really exciting thing or a really challenging thing, because you are rebuilding the culture whether you like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reagan says she wants practices to be the most stressful part of the week for her team, so they can let loose and have things come easily for them on gamedays. And after creating those intense moments on the practice court, her practice sessions end with breathing exercises, relaxation and mindfulness.<\/p>\n

After all, life is about balance. And Reagan has seen first hand how the stressors of athletic competition can prepare you for life\u2019s challenges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lessons that they learn here in the gym are preparing them for life. The lessons that we learn in this drill or in this pressure situation, it\u2019s preparing you for that CEO job. It\u2019s preparing you to be a good community member in the future. It\u2019s preparing you to be a mom in the future. Whatever hardship is going to come in life. It\u2019s preparing you for that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure thing, boss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by\u00a0Marilyn Bohl. Years ago, Natalie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-51793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}