University Southern California Trojans
Amir Lugo-Rodriguez Joins USC Women’s Volleyball Staff
October 08, 2026 | Women's Volleyball
Lugo-Rodriguez will serve in an interim assistant coach role with the Women of Troy
LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team announced the hiring of Amir Lugo-Rodriguez to the position of assistant coach in an interim role on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Lugo-Rodriguez previously served as an assistant coach for the Long Beach State men's volleyball team for the 2026 season and was a coach with the UCLA women's program for two seasons—2023 as an assistant and 2024 as the associate head coach—where he helped develop All-Americans Cheridyn Leverette and Ana Dodson.
Before arriving at UCLA, Lugo-Rodriguez was an assistant coach at Northwestern for two seasons (2021-22) and arrived in Evanston following two seasons at California (2019-20). At Cal, Lugo-Rodriguez helped the Golden Bears secure their best record since 2011. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Lugo-Rodriguez served as the director of operations at Long Beach State for the men's volleyball team in 2018 when the 49ers won the Big West regular-season title and captured the 2018 NCAA Championship.
As an athlete, Lugo-Rodriguez has participated in the U.S. National Team Program where he started as a middle blocker for Team USA in the 2017 World University Games. He also earned a preliminary roster spot for the 2015 Pan American Cup and played a season professionally in France's first division.
Lugo-Rodriguez earned a bachelor's degree in consumer affairs from Long Beach State in 2017 and holds a master's degree in sport management from Long Beach State. A standout middle blocker for LBSU, Lugo-Rodriguez earned AVCA All-America first-team honors as a senior and was the 2017 Off the Block National Blocker of the Year and a second-team Volleyball Magazine All-American. He was also a three-time MPSF All-Academic Team member, president of Long Beach State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped lead the 49ers to two straight NCAA Final Four appearances in 2016 and 2017.
At the club level, Lugo-Rodriguez is the assistant director of SC Rockstar Volleyball club and has served as a club coach since 2013 in the SCVA, NCVA and Great Lakes regions. He also spent multiple years coaching club and as the club director assistant at San Gabriel Elite.
The Women of Troy (7-7, 1-3 Big Ten) return to the Midwest this week to take on No. 16 Purdue (8-5, 1-3) on Friday night (Oct. 9) at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Ind. The Trojans then meet No. 15 Indiana (10-3, 3-1) on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Both matches will be shown live on Big Ten Network. The USC-Indiana matchup is part of the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge.
For more information on the USC women's volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Lugo-Rodriguez previously served as an assistant coach for the Long Beach State men's volleyball team for the 2026 season and was a coach with the UCLA women's program for two seasons—2023 as an assistant and 2024 as the associate head coach—where he helped develop All-Americans Cheridyn Leverette and Ana Dodson.
Before arriving at UCLA, Lugo-Rodriguez was an assistant coach at Northwestern for two seasons (2021-22) and arrived in Evanston following two seasons at California (2019-20). At Cal, Lugo-Rodriguez helped the Golden Bears secure their best record since 2011. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Lugo-Rodriguez served as the director of operations at Long Beach State for the men's volleyball team in 2018 when the 49ers won the Big West regular-season title and captured the 2018 NCAA Championship.
As an athlete, Lugo-Rodriguez has participated in the U.S. National Team Program where he started as a middle blocker for Team USA in the 2017 World University Games. He also earned a preliminary roster spot for the 2015 Pan American Cup and played a season professionally in France's first division.
Lugo-Rodriguez earned a bachelor's degree in consumer affairs from Long Beach State in 2017 and holds a master's degree in sport management from Long Beach State. A standout middle blocker for LBSU, Lugo-Rodriguez earned AVCA All-America first-team honors as a senior and was the 2017 Off the Block National Blocker of the Year and a second-team Volleyball Magazine All-American. He was also a three-time MPSF All-Academic Team member, president of Long Beach State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped lead the 49ers to two straight NCAA Final Four appearances in 2016 and 2017.
At the club level, Lugo-Rodriguez is the assistant director of SC Rockstar Volleyball club and has served as a club coach since 2013 in the SCVA, NCVA and Great Lakes regions. He also spent multiple years coaching club and as the club director assistant at San Gabriel Elite.
The Women of Troy (7-7, 1-3 Big Ten) return to the Midwest this week to take on No. 16 Purdue (8-5, 1-3) on Friday night (Oct. 9) at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Ind. The Trojans then meet No. 15 Indiana (10-3, 3-1) on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Both matches will be shown live on Big Ten Network. The USC-Indiana matchup is part of the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge.
For more information on the USC women's volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Thursday, September 24
Sunday, September 20
Friday, September 18
Sunday, September 13
