• 2025 AVCA Thirty Under 30 honoree
Jorge Collazo was named an assistant coach with the UC San Diego men's volleyball program in October of 2023.
The 2024 campaign saw UC San Diego post a 12-15 overall record and a 6-7 mark in the Big West. The Tritons earned six victories over nationally-ranked teams including No. 5 Hawaiî, No. 12 USC, No. 16 CSUN (twice), No. 18 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 20 George Mason. UC San Diego climbed as high as No. 16 in the AVCA national poll.
Opposite Anthony Cherfan was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection. He was also named to the All-Big West First Team while outside hitter Sebastian Lara earned All-Big West Honorable Mention.
Collazo came to La Jolla from McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill., where he was an assistant coach with both the men's and women's programs between 2022 and 2023. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tenn., from 2020-22.
At McKendree, Collazo's duties including coaching team practices and creating all individual practice plans for skill work at every position. He was also in charge of all recruitment activity for the men while assisting with the organization of recruit visits for the women's program. In addition, Collazo was responsible for individual film analysis, statistical analysis, and schedule planning. On the academic side, he supervised the academic achievements of student-athletes and ensured they received adequate assistance to succeed in the classroom.
The NCAA Division II McKendree men's team plays in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) alongside Division I programs such as Ohio State, Ball State, Loyola Chicago, and Purdue Fort Wayne. In 2023, the Bearcats earned a victory against Loyola Chicago, which was ranked 13th nationally at the time, in the opening round of the MIVA Championship.
While at Lincoln Memorial, Collazo helped the Railsplitters post their winningest season in school history as the team went 20-7 in 2022. Lincoln Memorial won two Independent Volleyball Association (IVA) titles (2021, 2022) and became the first-ever IVA team to be ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I/II national poll. Collazo recruited and coached AVCA All-American setter Kohl Kutsch.
Collazo has extensive experience coaching at the club level as well. As an assistant with C2 Attack 16U in 2022, he helped lead the group to a USA Volleyball Open national championship and a 72-2 record. He has also spent time with the Southern Region Volleyball Association in Georgia, High Performance St. Louis, Blue Steel in Illinois, and 352 Elite in Florida.
As a libero, Collazo played at Lincoln Memorial in 2017 and led the team in digs. He transferred to McKendree and was a Bearcat from 2018-20. As a student-athlete in 2020, he was the recipient of an AVCA Diversity Award, given to help engage, educate, and strengthen African-American and ethnic minority coaches to showcase their coaching and leadership abilities.
Collazo graduated from McKendree in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in Biology. He received a master's in Public Administration from Lincoln Memorial in 2022.
