Cal State San Marcos Athletics

Andrea Leonard has set a strong foundation for CSUSM volleyball since being named the program’s first coach in 2011.

Leonard has collected five Coach of the Year accolades during her time at CSUSM including the school’s first-ever CCAA Coach of the Year in 2017. In the 11 years competing in the CCAA, Leonard has coached 22 All-CCAA honorees, 56 CCAA All-Academic selections and 57 CCAA Fall All-Academic honorees.

Entering her 21st season as a collegiate head volleyball coach in 2025, Leonard holds a 309-303 (.505) career record. She is 217-177 (.551) in charge of the CSUSM volleyball program. 

In 2024, Leonard coached Isabelle Bakken, Jackie Phillips and Jessica Thomas to All-CCAA honorable mention honors while four Cougars earned CSC Academic All-District honors and 10 student-athletes were named to the CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll. 

The Cougars returned to the CCAA Tournament in 2023 after finishing with a 10-8 CCAA record and 12-15 overall. Mia Christensen earned the program's first CCAA Elite 13 award with the highest GPA at the conference tournament. 

In 2022, the Cougars concluded the year with an 8-17 overall record and 7-11 in conference play. 

After not seeing action in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Leonard's team made their fourth consecutive CCAA Tournament appearance in 2021 season after finishing with an overall 12-13 record and going 9-9 in conference play.

The 2019 season ranks as one of the most successful in the program's eight-year history with eight of their losses to NCAA West Regional participants. At the fourth-annual Cougar Classic, CSUSM swept Azusa Pacific who later made it the NCAA Division II West Region Finals before losing in five sets to eventual National Champion Cal State San Bernardino. Making their third consecutive CCAA Tournament appearance, the Cougars won their first postseason game with a five-set thriller over CCAA North Division champion Stanislaus State. CSUSM made its first appearance in the NCAA West Region rankings, debuting at No. 8 on Nov. 6. In the final NCAA Division II statistics, CSUSM ranked 24th in the toughest schedule category. 

In 2018, Leonard led her squad to their second consecutive CCAA Tournament appearance. The Cougars clinched a spot in the conference tournament with a four-set road victory over then-No. 12 nationally-ranked Cal State L.A.

In CSUSM’s first year of being a full-fledged member of the NCAA Division II in 2017-18, Leonard guided the Cougars to a third place finish in the CCAA regular season standings and qualified for the CCAA Tournament. The Cougars recorded big wins in 2017 by sweeping UC San Diego and winning a five-set thriller over national powerhouse Cal State San Bernardino. On the road, CSUSM handed Sonoma State its first home loss in over a year with a four-set win in Rohnert Park.
 
In her first four years, she compiled a 112-46 (.709) record, including a 16-0 record in A.I.I. Championship that led to four consecutive conference titles. The Cougars reached the NAIA National Tournament in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. They have also defeated 12 NAIA Top-25 opponents in just four seasons, including six programs ranked in the top-10. The program has had six NAIA All-Americans, three A.I.I. Player of the Years, 17 All-Conference selections and 14 A.I.I. All-tournament team honorees. 

In 2014, Leonard guided the Cougars to their fourth consecutive A.I.I. Volleyball Conference title and made their final NAIA Opening Round appearance.  She also leaves the A.I.I. Conference with a fourth consecutive Coach of the Year nod.  Five Cougars earned All-Conference selections and senior Alyssa Foster earned her third NAIA All-American honor. 
 
The Cougars continued their high level of play in 2013 by finishing the season with a 23-12 record.  They brought home CSUSM's third A.I.I. Volleyball Conference Tournament title and made another appearance in the NAIA Championships, this time falling to No. 16 The Master's College in the first round. Leonard repeated as A.I.I. Coach of the Year while having five student-athletes earn All-Conference honors and two players named to the NAIA All-America team. 
 
Leonard and the Cougars raised the bar even higher in the team's second season, going 30-15 and once again winning the A.I.I. Conference tournament-- this time sweeping all four matches in straight sets. The team then defeated No. 22 Vanguard in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament, and then knocked off No. 6 The Master's in pool play before falling in a one-set tiebreak that prevented the team from reaching the final 12 teams in bracket play. Leonard was once again named A.I.I. Coach of the Year, and had four All-Conference selections and two players named to the NAIA All-America team.
 
Leonard set the bar high in the Cougars' inaugural campaign. The young but precocious team -- consisting of 10 freshmen and zero seniors -- put together a 29-8 overall record and captured the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) conference title while qualifying for the NAIA tournament. Leonard was awarded A.I.I. Coach of the Year and three of her players’ garnered all-conference distinction. Freshman Taylor DeGraff became CSUSM volleyball's first-ever All-American.

Prior to her time at CSUSM, Leonard spent the 2010 season on San Diego State head coach Deitre Collins-Parker's staff as an assistant coach.

Between 2003-08, Leonard served as head coach at Boston College, leading the program to new heights almost immediately. She oversaw the program's first 20-win season in 2004, a campaign that included winning the first Big East Challenge and ending Notre Dame's 58-match win streak, culminating in a trip to the Big East Tournament final.   In 2007, Leonard brought in a recruiting class ranked 28th in the nation, and in 2009 helped BC record its first-ever 10-match win streak.

In 2006, Leonard helped Allison Anderson earn first team All-ACC for the second consecutive year, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I All-Region East Team, as well as AVCA Division I All-America Honorable Mention. Anderson also was honored by being named to the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Training Team in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Leonard started the 2004 season with the program's first win over Rhode Island in 13 years. The Eagles went on to win the first annual Big East Challenge with wins over Rutgers and Connecticut. BC also became the first conference team to sweep Notre Dame in regular-season play at home since 1984, snapping a 58-game Irish win streak. Leonard also coached BC's first Big East Libero Player of the Year in Allison Anderson.

Academically, her players excelled, as the program posted a 100-percent graduation rate from 2003-08.  She coached 10 ACC All-Academic selections, two ACC Post-grad Scholarship recipients, and three ACC Sportsmanship Award winners.

During the summer of 2003, Leonard coached with Bring It Promotions and two teams from the U.S. in the fourth Annual Sibillini Tournament in Comunanza, Italy. Leonard's Under-20 American team competed against teams from the Czech Republic, Slavia Bratislava, Slovakia, and Hungary and finished a strong third in the tournament.

Prior to BC, Leonard finished a five-season tenure (1998-02) with the University of New Hampshire, where she led the Wildcats to several postseason appearances. Under Leonard's guidance as an associate head coach in 2002, UNH went 23-11 winning the America East Conference Championship and made an NCAA tournament appearance.

Before UNH, Leonard served as an assistant coach at Ferris State University during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. During her tenure, the Bulldogs were nationally ranked at No. 25 in Division II.

As a player, Leonard was a four-year scholarship student-athlete at Northern Michigan University, helping the team to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight and serving as co-captain in 1990.  She began her coaching career in 1992 as a student assistant coach at Northern Michigan before becoming an assistant at Ferris State.

In 2015, Leonard coached the USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team in the USAU Junior National Championship in New Orleans. The team consisted of 11 NCAA Division I AVCA All-American players from the top 25 teams in the country.

Leonard became a West Region RAC committee member in 2019 and served as the NCAA Site Rep at the 2019 West Regional Championship in San Bernardino. 

Currently, Leonard is a member of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Committee at CSUSM. 

She was a member of the AVCA Education Committee (1999-2003) and served as the AVCA liaison for assistant coaches (2000-03).

In the fall of 2018, Leonard was appointed CSUSM’s Senior Woman Administrator by Director of Athletic Jennifer Milo. Leonard also completed the Eye of the Hurricane Leadership Academy. She stepped down in the Spring of 2024. 

Leonard holds her Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Education with a minor in Biology from Northern Michigan.