Former Coug finds new home as assistant coach
Penny Tusa played five seasons with Cougs; now continuing coaching career
OLIVER MCKENNA | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Junior outside hitter and setter Penny Tusa spikes the ball at Arizona State University on Oct. 20 at Bohler Gym.
March 2, 2023
CSU Bakersfield volleyball announced Monday a new assistant coach. WSU fans knew the name, as it was former Coug Penny Tusa.
Tusa played five seasons with the Cougs, from 2017–21, earning a Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention Team bid in 2018 and inserting herself into the record books for many different categories.
Before joining the Cougs, she earned four varsity letters at Long Beach Polytechnic High School as an outside hitter. As well as being a four-year All-Moore League honoree, league MVP in 2016, won the league championship in 2015 and finished second in 2016.
Over her five seasons, she dominated at the service line and stayed healthy, playing in many different matches. She is the first all-time in WSU history in aces (150), tenth in digs (1128), first in sets played (513), and tied for first in matches played (139).
Outside of her record-breaking statistics, she had 504 kills, 513 assists and 70.0 blocks.
After finishing her playing career, she joined Texas Women’s University as a graduate assistant for the 2022 season, being named the 2022 American Volleyball Coaches Association Diversity Award while there.
Now, joining CSU, she enters a larger role for the team that went 7-25 last season.