MJ Kolze

Coach MJ is excited to join the St. James as Recruiting Coordinator and Head Coach for 18-Navy during the 2022-2023 season.

Coach MJ brings over 23 years of volleyball playing experience, including 2 NCAA tournament appearances playing D1 volleyball at Missouri State University. She received multiple accolades, including Scholar Athlete All-Conference her senior season. Prior to college, Coach MJ was a standout setter, earning All-Region and All-State honors, Prep Volleyball Academic All-American and Arizona Big Schools Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.

On the sidelines, Coach MJ brings over 10 years of coaching experience at the club and high school levels. Prior to joining the coaching staff at GMU, Coach MJ served two seasons as the inaugural Varsity Volleyball Coach at Lightridge High School. During her time there, three Lightridge players earned All-District awards, two were finalists for Lightridge High School Female Athlete of the Year, four were named AVCA Phenoms, and one was  named to the AVCA All-America Watchlist. During her time at Lightridge, the team held a 0.667 post-season win-percentage.

Coach MJ currently serves as the Volunteer Assistant Coach for the George Mason University Women’s Volleyball Program. In her role at GMU, Coach MJ primarily serves as the setter position and technique coach (including offensive connections), provides team and leadership dynamics consulting for the team and individuals within the team (in conjunction with her academic work in Industrial / Organizational Psychology), and maintains detailed practice stats for the team.

Coach MJ was recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as one of its Thirty Under 30 HS honorees in 2020. She is, additionally, the only woman nationally to have won both the AVCA Innovation and AVCA NetWorks Awards for her club coaching in both 2020 and 2021.