This feature originally appeared in the Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to calbearbackers@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
If Cal Director of Volleyball Rich Feller is ever looking for a visual aid to demonstrate to his pupils how they become elite student-athletes, he doesn't have to look any further than his own office.
Two of Feller's most recent hires were responsible for helping Cal reach the top of college volleyball. Meagan Schmitt, the Bears' new beach volleyball head coach, and Tarah Murrey, new volunteer assistant coach for Cal's indoor team, played together on the 2010 unit that reached the NCAA title match and two other squads that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
“I'm really excited to have Tarah and Meagan come back into the fold,” Feller said. “They played on arguably three of our best teams together. They were both integral parts of those teams. It really is satisfying to have former players want to come back to Cal and give back and continue the tradition and kind of ensure their place in history for Cal volleyball.”
Murrey was a two-time AVCA All-American during her playing career from 2008-11. As a senior, she was voted the Pac-12 Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a top-10 finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Schmitt is one of only two players in history to lead Cal to two NCAA Final Fours and was a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic team selection.
Murrey played professionally in Italy and Puerto Rico and has coached an assortment of club programs across the country. Schmitt was an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount for three years for both the indoor and beach programs before returning to Cal as the associate head coach for beach volleyball in 2014. She was elevated to head coach in July, and Feller became Director of Volleyball while still head coach of the Bears' indoor team.
“Having had such an amazing experience here at Cal as both a student and an athlete, being given the opportunity to come back and help give that experience to girls that are going through that process right now is extremely rewarding,” Schmitt said. “I know the impact that this time of a young adult's life can have, and I want to make sure that a lot of student-athletes have the kind of experience I had. It's a huge testament to the legacy that Rich has built that his athletes want to come back and want to help continue the phenomenal program that he's built.”
Schmitt was one year ahead of Murrey at Cal, but that didn't prevent the two from forming a lasting bond that has them both thrilled they now share an office. Because of her relationship with Schmitt and 2010 National Player of the Year Carli Lloyd, Murrey often refers to 2010 as her senior year even though she was a junior and Schmitt and Lloyd were seniors.
“My junior year was basically my senior year because I felt such a strong connection to Meagan,” Murrey said. “Knowing she had my back on and off the court was something that definitely helped me excel as a student-athlete at Cal. I almost got teary-eyed in a team meeting talking to them and the team. That's why I was playing. It wasn't my senior year, but I respected them so much, I considered it my senior year.”
While both Schmitt and Murrey say they were different off the court, they shared the same intensity and competitive drive on it, along with Lloyd. The three would sit in the locker room and strategize ways to pass upcoming conditioning tests. Inside Haas Pavilion, the discourse rarely strayed from volleyball.
“The investment in that goal – just talking about it gets me a little emotional,” Schmitt said. “That connection lasts a lifetime. When you fully invest in that goal, notching can break that.”
Feller hopes Murrey and Schmitt's experiences can rub off on his current teams. Both are in their mid-20s, meaning it wasn't long ago each was a student-athlete – and specifically a student-athlete at Cal. As a volunteer coach, Murrey can also take the court and practice with the current team.
“Tarah knows the ups and downs of a college career,” Feller said. “She's seen our team at its very, very best. She also saw a small decline in our team. I think she's in a unique position to identify factors in the team culture – factors that may go into the team excelling again. Because of her success – individually and with the team – the players will listen to her.”
As soon as Schmitt's playing career ended in 2010, she told Feller she wanted to become a coach. Her mom, Laura, is the head track and cross country coach at Redwood High School in Larkspur and her brother, Jake, is an assistant coach. Both of Schmitt's parents, Laura and Tom, are Cal alums.
Schmitt's dream was to return to Cal as a coach, and after her time at Loyola, she jumped at the chance to join the Bears' beach program.
“Meagan is from a family of coaches and a family of Bears,” Feller said. “Seeing her on the court as a player, you could always see the thought process. While maybe not the most gifted physically, she definitely was always mentally prepared and understood the team and coaching staff, and what we were trying to accomplish.”
Murrey now works in an office where a framed All-America plaque of herself hangs from a wall. She also now shares an office with someone she used to share dance moves with on the court while redefining the Cal volleyball program.
Murrey and Schmitt are having fun together, but also know they are charged to help put the beach and indoor programs at the top of college volleyball.
“I get to have one of my best friends back in Berkeley. That's a dream,” Schmitt said. “We both get to be back here. It really does feel like the good old days. Just having her around the office, it lightens my day. I smile.”
Said Murrey: “She's said at least three times in the last month, 'I can't work with you in here!' She's joking, hopefully.”
While Murrey and Schmitt know their experiences as student-athletes can help the current Bears, they also recognize that it's not that easy. The nature of college athletics dictates varying personalities and cultures, and both former Bears are simply hoping to put their stamp on their respective programs in the most positive way possible.
“I know that with each year and each four-year cycle, there's going to be a new culture in college,” Murrey said. “I think that's something us as coaches need to respect about this group of girls. At the same time, it's molding those two together – that Cal tradition that Meagan and I shared in that four years and then the tradition that they have now, and finding the meeting ground where we can build something new and something great.”
