The 2024 volleyball season is quickly approaching for Cal State East Bay. And entering her seventh year as head coach for the program is Kimberly Lambert.

"As a staff, it is our priority to recruit high level student athletes that will be successful at Cal State East Bay academically and will fit the culture identified within our program. Additionally, we look to increase our footprint within the Hayward community to promote the faces and personalities of our student athletes. With each opportunity I have within my role as the Head Coach, I value the connections I make with our Alumni and the people before us that have laid the foundation of Pioneer success!"
 
Some very notable accomplishments for Lambert during her tenure as head coach include:

• Leading the Pioneers to a berth in the 2018 NCAA Division II West Regional, which was her first season as head coach for the program.
• A tremendous turnaround for the program in 2022 of 20 wins (most wins for program with Lambert as head coach) and a spot in the CCAA Tournament, which followed a 2021 season with eight wins.
• Multiple First Team and Second Team All-CCAA selections.
• AVCA Team Academic Award four times since 2018.

Although Lambert has served as head coach since 2018, she has been a part of the Pioneer community long before then. She served 10 years on the coaching staff with longtime Cal State East Bay coach head coach Jim Spagle.
 
The upcoming season for the Pioneers should be very exciting, as two notable returners will be in the lineup include Mia Jordan (All-CCAA Second Team in 2022, 2023) and Lexi Pagani (2023 All-CCAA Honorable Mention, 2022 All-CCAA First Team).  

Lambert also holds student-athletes in her program to a high standard on and of the court. "To develop the total athlete by recognizing and maintaining our three core values as a program. Valuing the growth of the 3P's (Player, Professional, Person), we, the Pioneers, will find success on and off the court that will prepare us for the challenges throughout life."