Jesus Echevarria
Jesus Echevarria joined the Youngstown State volleyball program as an assistant coach and the program's recruiting coordinator in January 2022. He was elevated to the title of associate head coach prior to his second season in 2023.
The Penguins experienced a year of major growth in Echevarria’s first season alongside head coach Aline Scott. The team posted its best record in eight years and set a new school record for Horizon League wins with eight. YSU won eight out of 11 matches from Oct. 1 through Nov. 4, and that hot stretch was enough to allow the Penguins to qualify for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship for the first time since 2014.
YSU hit .216 for the season, which was its best attack percentage since 2014 and the second-best mark since 1999. The Penguins averaged 12.48 kills per set, which was also its highest in eight seasons. Additionally, YSU averaged 1.62 aces per set, which was its most for a season since t he 2001 squad averaged 1.90 aces per set. The Penguins had their best attack percentage ever in Horizon League play by hitting .214, and their 12.86 kills per set in conference matches were the most by a Penguins team since 2012.
Individually, sophomore outside hitter Paula Gursching had one of the best individual seasons in school and Horizon League history. She became the first player in program history to be named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, and she was also the first Penguin to be named First-Team All-Region. She was voted the Horizon League Player of the Year while ranking third in the country in both kills and points per set.
Newcomers were a big part of YSU's success in 2022. Abbie Householder was the most celebrated newcomer as she was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after ranking third on the team in kills and digs. Isabel Schaefbauer led the team with 622 assists and 5.27 assists per set as a setter in the 6-2 offense, and the Penguins got a big lift from new middle blockers Dayan Malave and Julia Sell. Malave played in all but three sets and led the team with 85 total blocks, and Sell was strong in the second half of the season and averaged a team-best 0.88 blocks per set.
As a recruiter, Echevarria helped secure five new student-athletes for the 2023-24 season. Those incoming Penguins include Ohio natives Michelle Fredrick, Maria Insana and Jocelyn Jourdan, who will all be freshmen. Two international student-athletes, freshman Gabriela Machin from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, and junior Jazmin Vergara from Buenaventura, Columbia, will also be on the roster in the fall.
"I am extremely excited to add Jesus to our staff," said YSU head coach Aline Scott upon his hiring. "He brings diverse experience coaching women at all levels, including professionally. Alongside his strong recruiting connections, he will help elevate our program immediately. I am happy he chose to be a Penguin as we continue to work hard to create a positive experience for our student-athletes."
Echevarria came to YSU after spending the previous two seasons helping to develop Evansville into a postseason-caliber program.
In Echevarria’s two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Evansville, the Purple Aces improved from six wins to 21 wins. In 2021, Evansville made the postseason for the first time since joining the Missouri Valley Conference and won two matches in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
The Purple Aces had four all-conference players in Echevarria's two seasons, including Giulia Cardona, the MVC Freshman of the Year in 2021. Cardona set Evansville's freshman kills record with 467, and Alondra Vazquez set UE's single-season kills record regardless of class with 494.
Before his time at Evansville, Echevarria accumulated several years of coaching experience from all levels of play in his native Puerto Rico. He was a NORCECA and Olympic Qualifier Silver Medalist as an assistant coach with the Puerto Rico Women's National Team in 2019-20. From 2015-2020, he worked as an assistant coach with Mets de Guaynabo of the PR Men's Professional League and helped the organization to four championships. From 2014 through 2020, he was a Club Volleyball Coach at Ultimate Volleyball System and Borinquen Coqui. As a club coach, he won 27 medals including 12 championships at Puerto Rico's major club event.
He also worked with the Women's Professional League in Puerto Rico, serving as an assistant coach with Changas de Naranjito. Working with the team from 2017 through 2020, the team set the regular season all-time wins record on its way to earning a silver medal in 2019.
One of the highlights of his work at the professional level came in 2018 when he was the head coach of the Puerto Rico Men's Professional League All-Star Game. At the high school level, he coached at Nuestra Sra. Del Carmen and Saint Monica Bilingual School from 2014-19.
His work with the sport of volleyball expanded beyond coaching as he worked as the Team Equipment Manager and Team Delegate for the PR Men's and Women's National Teams from 2015 through 2019 at various international competitions. Before his coaching stint at the professional level, he was a Data Volley 4 Statistician for Changas de Naranjito in the women's pro league.
On the floor, Echevarria enjoyed a stellar playing career. As a student-athlete at Baruch College in Manhattan, N.Y., he was a CUNY All-Conference First Team honoree in 2011 while earning NECVA All-Region accolades. He accumulated the fourth-highest all-time assist total in his time with the program. A Molten Final Four participant at Baruch, he was a NECVA silver medalist in 2011 while earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. His squad was the CUNY Champion that season with Echevarria being named the Finals MVP.
Echevarria has Impact Certification and Level III National Coaches Certification from the Puerto Rico Volleyball Federation. He has a degree in Sport Management from Elms College in Chicopee, Mass. While her coaching at Evansville, he finished his Masters of Science of Leadership degree and completed the Pan-American High Performance Coaches Certification.
