Having posted 74 wins over the last four years, Jeff Campbell heads into his 10th season as the head coach at Cal State Northridge looking to move into second place in wins among Matador men’s volleyball coaches. Campbell is currently 13 wins from surpassing
Walt Ker (1977-85) and moving into second place behind John Price.

Coming off their fifth consecutive postseason appearance in 2006, the
Matadors finished with their third consecutive top 10 national
ranking (eighth) and won 18 matches for the second time in four years. In what turned out to be Northridge’s last win of the 2006 season, Campbell picked up career win #125 when the Matadors defeated No. 10 USC on Apr. 7.

Campbell and the Matadors got a taste of postseason success for the first time in 2005. That season, Northridge matched the 2004 team in terms of win total (19), its highest since 1993. Along the way, the Matadors claimed postseason wins over No. 7 Stanford at home and stunned No. 2 UCLA on the road. In 2005, Northridge wound up with its second straight No. 6 national ranking and Campbell joined the 100- win club with a 3-0 win over 15th-ranked George Mason on Mar. 16.

After the Matadors peaked with a #3 national ranking in 1991 and a
spot in the 1993 NCAA Championship match under Price, Campbell has taken over and steadily led the Matadors back towards the top. After being out of the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll from 1998 to 1999, the Matadors have been ranked in the Top 15 virtually every week since then. Last season, behind the All-America performance of senior middle blocker Brian Waite and junior All-MPSF selection Dan Rhodes, the Matadors earned their fifth straight MPSF Tournament berth.

In all, Campbell has been instrumental in eight players earning All-
America honors and has had 17 players earn All-MPSF honors since 1998. Northridge has also been one of the team leaders in MPSF All- Academic honors. In 2006, Cal State Northridge had a record eight student-athletes garner MPSF Academic All-Conference honors, the most of any of the 12 schools in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Matadors have now had an impressive 35 student-athletes earn All- Academic honors in the last six seasons.The 2000 squad put Matador volleyball back on the map. Although it finished under .500 with a 12-14 record, Northridge reached a #10 national ranking in the Feb. 29 USA Today/AVCA Poll and a #9 national ranking by Volleyball Magazine on Mar. 27. The Matadors defeated UCLA on Feb. 17, for their first win over the Bruins since 1992.

1999 turned out to be a rebuilding year for Campbell and the Matadors as they struggled through a 3-21 season.
As the team’s interim head coach in 1998, Campbell led the Matadors to a 10-14 overall record, which included upsets of nationally ranked teams such as No. 10 UC Santa Barbara, No. 10 Loyola Marymount, No. 12 Southern California, No. 12 Pacific and No. 15 San Diego State.

Campbell became just the third head coach in the 26-year history of the program when he was named the interim coach on Aug. 7, 1997. Following a national search, Campbell was hired officially to the post on April 8, 1998. A former Matador player, Campbell joined the Matador coaching staff in 1991 and served as an assistant coach for seven years. In addition to his assistant coaching duties for the Matadors (1991-97), Campbell served as one of the assistants to U.S. National Team Head Coach Fred Sturm at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga., and as the assistant coach for both the U.S. National “B” Team that toured Italy in the summer of 1994 and the U.S. Olympic Festival-’93 in San Antonio, Texas. From 1992 to 1997, he also handled the head coaching duties of the Occidental College women’s volleyball team, directing the Tigers to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoffs four times.In 1986, Campbell began his coaching career as an assistant for the Chatsworth High School boys’ volleyball team. From 1989-91, he served as the head girls’ volleyball coach at Newbury Park High School. The Panthers posted a three-year overall mark of 33-17 under Campbell and
qualified for the CIF playoffs all three seasons. Campbell concluded his high school tenure with a career record of 45-20 in four seasons.

As a volleyball player, Campbell played two years at Chatsworth High School where he was a two-time West Valley League Most Valuable Player. He also lettered two years in basketball for the Chancellors. Campbell garnered All-Valley Conference accolades in both seasons and was the team’s captain as a senior. After graduating from Chatsworth High School in 1984, Campbell played one season at UCLA and earned second team United States Volleyball Association All-American honors before coming to Cal State Northridge. He was the Matadors’ captain and earned second team All-American and All-Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association honors during the 1988 season. Campbell played
in 86 games of 24 matches and had 358 kills, 214 digs, 23 assists and 17 aces for Northridge during the 1988 campaign. He currently ranks tied for third in block solos (36) and fourth in digs per game
average (2.49) on the single-season lists. Campbell spent nine years (1991-1999) as the promoter and coordinator of the Cal State
Northridge Grass Volleyball Series. He also played for the 1984 U.S. Junior National Pacific Rim team that toured China. In 1987, he was a member of the U.S. National Team that competed at the World Games in Yugoslavia.

CS NORTHRIDGE ASSISTANT COACH JEFF CONOVER

Jeff Conover begins his first season as Jeff Campbell’s top assistant at Cal State Northridge in 2007.

A two-year member of the Northridge men’s volleyball team, Conover played on two Matador MPSF Tournament squads in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Northridge reached the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament before ultimately falling in four games at top-ranked Pepperdine. Conover finished the 2005 season with a team-high 1,346 assists which ranked ninth in the MPSF and 12th in the nation. He wound up his two-year Matador career with 1,351 assists which ranks eighth on the Northridge career assists list.

Conover also brings the experience of working as an assistant coach for the boys volleyball team at University of San Diego High School in 2001 and, in addition to Northridge, is in his first season coaching with the Sportshack Volleyball Club girls squad and the Santa Monica Beach Club boys team.

Born in San Diego, Calif., Conover was an all-league player in both volleyball and basketball at University of San Diego High School. He earned his associate of arts degree from Grossmont College in 2003 before enrolling at Cal State Northridge. He earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Northridge in 2006.

Jeff is single and currently resides in Santa Monica.