Otavio Souza acted as an assistant coach for Cal volleyball from 2020-22.
In the 2022 season, the Golden Bears started off with a 7-3 record in tournament play, earning All-Utah Valley Tournament honors for Lydia Grote and Tara DeSa, as well as All-Cal Tournament nods for DeSa, Mikayla Hayden and Sophie Scott. A tough conference schedule that included five matches against AVCA Top-25 teams followed, with multiple Bears reaching significant personal milestones: DeSa became just the 11th Bear ever to join the 30-dig club, while Grote posted two straight 28-kill matches (the most by any Cal player since 2010) and Annalea Maeder crossed the 1,000-assist mark. Both Maeder and Sam Taumoepeau earned CSC Academic All-District honors after the season, and six total Bears made their way onto the Pac-12 Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Cal raced to a 7-3 record to start the 2021 season, which was highlighted by a Pacific Tournament title and senior Mima Mirkovic’s career day on Aug. 27 when she reached 1,000 total digs and 1,000 total kills, becoming just the 8th player in program history to do so. The Bears then commenced one of the most difficult conference schedules in the nation, playing ranked opponents no fewer than 11 times. Two players – Lydia Grote and Leah Schmidt – were later invited to USA Volleyball’s National Team Open Program.
In the 2020-21 spring season, Souza helped oversee Lydia Grote’s Pac-12 All-Freshman campaign, crowned by her 11 matches with double-digit kills, as well as the Bears’ first win against Stanford since the 2011 season. The team also received its second straight AVCA Team Academic Award.
In Souza's first year at SMC in 2018 the Gaels finished the regular season 19-9, their best mark since going 20-8 in 2010. The Gaels went 2-0 against Pac-12 programs that season and punched their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since 2012.
During Souza's two-year stint at SMC, three-players earned All-Conference honors, including middle blocker Aubrey Pitts, who Souza coached directly.
Prior to Saint Mary's, Souza spent two years on the coaching staff at NCAA Division II member, Missouri State University. He worked with the team's hitters and blockers during one of MWSU's most historic seasons in 2017 as the Griffins shared the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season title and won a tournament match for the first time in program history.
In his two seasons at Missouri Western Souza mentored 11 players to All-MIAA honors, including a conference Freshman of the Year. As a team, the Griffins led the conference in kills, finished second in total blocks and ranked fourth in hitting percentage, kills per set and blocks per set. Before Missouri Western, Souza spent two years as an assistant coach at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
A Florianópolis, Brazil native, Souza tallied impressive credentials in his time as a player at Brigham Young University in Utah from 2008-13. In his senior year he started 22 matches, collecting 119 kills, 94 blocks, 35 digs, 16 assists and seven service aces with a .431 hitting percentage.
He went on to play professionally for Itajai Pro-Volei and Florianopolis Voleibol in Brazil, along with the Florida Wave.
