Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 610-758-6111
- Alma Mater:
- First Season
Jesse Morris Blazek is in his first season on the Mountain Hawks coaching staff. Blazek arrived at South Mountain after his most recent coaching experience as an assistant coach at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois, which finished the 2008 season ranked 18th in the nation in NJCAA Division II. His duties at LLCC included taking primary responsibility for coaching outside hitters, recruiting, scouting, and designing practice plans.
“Jesse has been a fantastic addition to both our volleyball program and to our university!,” Mountain Hawks head coach Jenny Maurer explains. “He truly understands and has embraced the culture of Lehigh and our student-athletes, and he will undoubtedly help to raise our expectations on the court. His strengths of fine-tuning technical skills and working with players to be mentally tough competitors will complement my coaching style quite well. Jesse brings a wealth of experience at various levels, and shares a similar approach to coaching collegiate athletes.”
Prior to Lincoln Land CC, Blazek was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Eckerd College, in Saint Petersburg, Florida where the Tritons improved from seventh to third place in the NCAA Division II powerhouse Sunshine State Conference in just two seasons. Blazek also served as a student-assistant coach for two years at NCAA Division III Illinois Wesleyan University during which time the Titans won two regular season conference championships, one conference tournament, and made the only two NCAA playoff appearances in the program’s history. He
Blazek has also coached at the club level for Illinois Juniors in Bloomington where he worked with numerous future college athletes and Capital Area Volleyball Club in Springfield where he also served as assistant club director. Blazek has worked as a camp practitioner numerous times and has recently been an assistant camp director and director at multiple summer camps.
Blazek received a bachelor’s summa cum laude from Eckerd College in 2001, where he was a member of the men’s club national championship volleyball team in 2000. He has also played on teams that won consecutive Florida Region USAV adult open volleyball championships and finished second at the 2001 USAV adult national championships.
Along with his coaching responsibilities at Lehigh, Blazek will continue working toward the completion of his PhD in Philosophy via Loyola University Chicago. He is married to Anne Graber Blazek, an attorney. The two have recently relocated to Bethlehem from Springfield, Illinois. Aside from doing all things volleyball, Blazek enjoys raising bonsai trees, roasting coffee, and reading.
Blazek is excited to be joining the up and coming Lehigh volleyball program. He will assist with all aspects of the Mountain Hawks volleyball program, including practice and match preparation, on-court coaching, scouting, and recruitment.
