Leah Johnson begins her second season as an assistant coach with The University of Texas-Pan American women's volleyball program.
The UTPA assistant coach served as the volunteer assistant coach for the Bears during the 2006 campaign where Missouri State recorded a 27-9 record, including their first-ever trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the first round, the Bears defeated the University of Arkansas in four sets on the Razorbacks' home court.
In her role with the Bears, Johnson was responsible for one-on-one training with the MSU red-shirt student-athletes while serving as the specialty coach on the defensive side. She also prepared scouting reports for upcoming opponents for the Bears while serving as the commentator for MSU live internet broadcasts.
In addition to serving on the Missouri State women's volleyball coaching staff, Johnson was the founder, director and coach of Club 417 Volleyball Club since the 2005 season where she formed two teams and managed the budget and fundraisers for the program. The Club 417 Volleyball Club finished fifth overall at the 2006 national championships in Atlanta, GA, and also qualified for the national championships during the 2005 campaign in Salt Lake City, UT.
Johnson guided Club 417 Volleyball Club to top-10 finishes at national competitions in Baltimore, Indianapolis and Reno and placed 100 percent of her student-athletes into collegiate programs. She also coached one All-American during her tenure at Club 417 Volleyball Club and coached one student-athlete that was selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year at Missouri State.
During her tenure at Missouri State, Johnson coached at both the MSU Volleyball Camp as well as the Missouri Southern State University Volleyball Camp where she led instruction over specialty areas at every position. She also instructed developmental skills camps and served as a head coach for High School Team Camp and High Performance Camps.
After graduating from Missouri State, Johnson served as the graduate assistant in the Athletics Development Department where she helped coordinate and organize sponsorships for all MSU Athletics events. She was in charge of the game-day marketing operations for the volleyball program and developed as well as distributed marketing plans to promote all Bear events.
Johnson played her collegiate volleyball at Missouri State where helped the Bears finished 23rd in the county at the end of the season AVCA Rankings at the conclusion of the 2003 campaign. She also guided the Bears to a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The former MSU standout was a two-time team captain and was awarded with the Heart Award during her final three campaigns with the program. She is currently the program's all-time leader in digs in a match as she posted 33 against Bradley University during her junior campaign. Johnson was selected as an Academic All-Missouri Valley Conference award winner and served as a representative for the women's volleyball program on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Johnson graduated from Missouri State in May of 2004 with a major in Spanish and minors in German and criminology. She also earned her master's degree in International Affairs and Administration in December of 2006.
The UTPA assistant coach currently resides in Edinburg.