Neville leaves powerhouse Cabrillo for UC Santa Cruz; Montagna new head coach for Seahawks
By Jim Seimas
Santa Cruz Sentinel
APTOS - After nearly a decade of unparalleled success as the Cabrillo College women’s volleyball coach, Gabrielle Houston Neville is jumping levels to attempt to build another powerhouse.
Houston Neville — who led the Seahawks to CCCAA state titles in 2013 and ’15 — was named head coach at NCAA Division III UC Santa Cruz on Thursday.
“I am so excited, beyond excited,” said Houston Neville, 51, who is also the co-director of Main Beach Volleyball Club. “Cabrillo has been great for me. It’s bittersweet. You never want to leave a program that’s super successful, a program that I helped build, but I really want to give it a go at the NCAA level.”
In nine seasons at the community college level, Houston Neville led the Seahawks to nine Coast Conference titles and seven state tournaments, including the past five seasons. Her 2013 team went 31-0 and became the first team from Northern California to win the state crown in the 36-year history of the tournament.
Her teams went a combined 239-30 overall, including 95-1 in conference. That one loss came in her first conference match as coach.
She hopes to add to her successful career at UCSC, which returns 13 players from a team that went 6-21 last season. The Slugs haven’t had a winning season since going 18-5 in 2014.
Houston Neville replaces Josh Davis after he held the position for two seasons. Davis was hired in February to coach at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon.
The Slugs feel like they struck gold by landing a local coach — a proven and successful one at that.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Sue Harriman, UCSC’s Director of Athletics said Wednesday night. “After having a nationwide search, the Midwest and all over, we found a person who rose to the top as a women’s volleyball coach. And to have her be local makes it that much sweeter. We’ve had some tough years the past few years and she brings stability. To have someone who knows the lay of the land is such a positive move.”
Harriman expects a seamless transition, crediting Davis for a solid recruiting class, which features five freshmen, and giving early notification of his departure.
Houston Neville’s Seahawks played a scrimmage against UCSC early last season and even though much has changed since that match, she believes she’s inheriting a more than capable bunch.
“There’s not many upperclassmen,” Houston Neville said. “It’s so cool to have such a young team. It looks like there’s a lot of talent.”
Houston Neville said two factors have played into her success: Her ability to recruit and have those players function on the court selflessly, with the good of everyone in mind.
“Regardless of the talent, we were a team every year,” she said.
Houston Neville is excited to compete — her team opens the season Aug. 31 at the Oregon Trail Classic in Newberg — and recruit athletes. She believes her relationships with community college coaches throughout the state should be beneficial during recruiting future athletes.
Her teams should be more visible to the community, too. Instead of playing on campus, the team, with the exception of its regular-season finale, will play its home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena, home of the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.
Prior to Cabrillo, Houston coached volleyball at Mount Madonna School (2006-09) and led the Hawks to three Central Coast Section crowns and the CIF D-V title in 2007. She also coached at Santa Cruz High (1993-95) and Bethany College (1995-96).
Kelsee Montagna, 24, has been hired as Houston Neville’s replacement at Cabrillo, and Yelena Skazka will serve as the Seahawks’ associate head coach.
The Seahawks went 30-2 last year, reached the CCCAA state semifinals, and finished ranked No. 4 in the state.
“I’m so honored to replace the golden legend, Gabby,” said Montagna, a member of the Seahawks’ 2013 state championship team who later played for the University of Great Falls in Montana. “She made the program what it is.”