Pacific WVB: Wortmann Joins The Women's Staff
With the calendar flipping to July 1, head coach Greg Gibbons is pleased to announce the addition of Joe Wortmann to his coaching staff for the upcoming 2014 season. Wortmann will join the women's staff after 22 years on the sidelines as the head coach of Pacific's men's volleyball team.
"I am excited and very fortunate to have Joe join our staff," said Gibbons. "He is an exceptional coach with over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience and will be a valuable addition to our program. I believe I have one of the very best coaching staffs in the country with Joe and Nicole (Vargas) and I am excited for the season in front of us."
The architect of Pacific's men's program, Wortmann was a two-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year as he was named the top coach in both 1996 and 2003. Wortmann upgraded the Pacific men's volleyball program from club status to NCAA Division I status in 1992. In just its fourth year as a Division I program, Pacific qualified for its first playoff appearance, while competing in the best collegiate conference in the country. In 1995, Wortmann was selected to coach the USA Youth National Team, which competed in the World Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2014, the Tigers discontinued their men's program, ending a 22 year run in the MPSF.
Prior to building the men's program, Wortmann came to Pacific in 1989 as an assistant to John Dunning with the women's program and served under Dunning for three years. He brought with him an extensive list of coaching experiences with younger players, coming to Pacific from Newbury Park High School in Newbury Park, Calif., where he was head coach of the girls' team from 1986-89. He also coached several volleyball clubs, including the Stockton Volleyball Club in 1990, the Zuma Bay Volleyball Club in Agoura, Calif., in 1989, and the SoCal Volleyball Club in Calabasas, Calif., from 1985 to 1987.
Wortmann graduated Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount University in 1978 with bachelor's degrees in philosophy and religious studies. He received his California Teacher's Credential from Cal State Northridge in 1986. In 1991, he received his USVBA CAP Level II Coaching Certification. In May 1998, Wortmann graduated with a master's degree in clinical psychology from Pacific.