Cole Murray will enter his third year as an assistant coach at Cal in 2026, working mainly with the pin hitters and defensive specialists.
Under Murray’s coaching in 2025, junior (and first-year libero) Sophia Johnson was named the first ACC Defensive Player of the Week in conference play, becoming the first Cal player since 2012 to earn weekly defensive recognition by any conference after posting a 5.29 digs-per-set average in Cal’s ACC-opening weekend. In total, Johnson recorded six outings of 20-or-more digs and 13 additional double-digit performances, also ranking among the nation's best receiving defensive specialists in three weeks and was the fourth-best receiver in all of non-conference play. Murray was also instrumental in the development of Cal’s freshman defensive specialists Francesca Popescu and Elise Lau, the former of whom had Cal’s highest number of service aces and played in every set while the latter saw her court time increase throughout the season until she likewise appeared in nearly every set.
On offense that year, senior Peyton DeJardin posted several career bests, including a .533 hitting performance with 17 kills at Virginia Tech and a 21-kill outing (plus 10 digs) against LSU. DeJardin also recorded a team-high 19 kills as well as five blocks in Cal’s win over No. 14 Miami. Murray coached junior Ashley Li to a breakout season, kicked off by her 17-kill, .412 outing at Syracuse, as well as promising rookie Arissa Carbonara, who ranked second on the team with 2.28 kills per set and had seven double-digit performances, including a 19-kill match against UC Davis and an 11-kill, .625 match at Virginia.
Under Murray’s guidance, outside hitter Xuemeng (Maggie) Li earned the first ACC Offensive Player of the Week award for the 2024 season and went on to rank top-five in the conference in total kills (463), kills per set (4.06), total points (512.0) and points per set (4.49); the first two were the most by any Cal player since 2011. Murray also coached two defensive standouts in Gianna Bartalo, who posted the eighth-most digs (468) by any Golden Bear in history, and Johnson, who ranked among the nation’s top receivers for two-straight weeks in November.
A native of Irvine, Calif., Murray was an assistant coach at Campbell for the 2023 season, helping lead the Fighting Camels to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) semifinals after the team finished third in the regular season. The year prior, he acted as volunteer assistant coach at Pepperdine, helping the Waves to an at-large NCAA bid. In total, Murray has aided in the development of nine All-Conference honorees (three at Campbell, six at Pepperdine), including the 2022 WCC Freshman of the Year. Before his foray into collegiate coaching, he also coached girls volleyball at Saddleback Volleyball Club, girls volleyball at Northwood High School and boys volleyball at Orange Coast Volleyball Club.
Murray started his collegiate career at Irvine Valley College (2014-15), helping lead the Lasers to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State semifinals and earning both All-Tournament and Second Team All-Pacific Coast Conference nods as a rookie. In his second year, he led the team in kills, kills per set and service aces on the way to First Team All-PCC recognition; Murray then transferred to Loyola Chicago, making the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) semifinals in each of his final two years with the Ramblers.
Murray graduated from Loyola Chicago in 2017 with a degree in communications studies, later earning his master’s degree in coaching and exercise science from Concordia University Irvine.
