Jake Penolio was named an assistant coach for the University of California San Diego Men's Volleyball program in September of 2017. The 2018 season, the inaugural year of Big West Conference Men's Volleyball, was his first on the Triton bench.
Penolio's coaching days began with both the men's and women's programs at his alma mater, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) power Park University in Parkville, Mo. Upon his return home to San Diego, he has coached with Coast Volleyball Club since 2014, and directed the Del Norte High School boy's varsity team to the CIF Division I semifinals in his first season in May of 2017.
Penolio was a middle blocker at Mar Vista and then at Park, where he helped the Pirates to an NAIA national championship in 2009, before embarking on a professional career spanning Austria and Israel with UVC Holding Graz and Maccabi Hod Hasharon, respectively.
