HONOLULU -- University of Hawai'i beach volleyball head coach Evan Silberstein announced that Armen Zakarian has joined the program as an assistant coach.

Zakarian boasts more than 15 years of coaching experience on the collegiate and national level. Most recently he was the head coach at West Valley College and previously was an assistant with the UC Irvine men's program. While at UCI, he coached five AVCA All-Americans and helped guide the Anteaters to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season and tournament championship, as well as a NCAA semifinal appearance in 2015. 

"Armen is a seasoned pro who brings a wealth of coaching experience, knowledge and expertise with him to our program," Silberstein said. "He's a great addition to the staff and will make a big difference in our student-athlete's development and our team's competitive success."

While at West Valley College, located in Saratoga, Calif., Zakarian built both the beach and indoor squads to elite status. His teams earned multiple conference championships and state runner-up finishes. In the process he was named Coast Conference Coach of the Year on both the indoor and beach sides. He also worked as a head coach with some of the top beach volleyball clubs in Northern California. 

Zakarian's other head coaching stint was highly successful. As the men's head coach at Santa Barbara City College (2010-12) he was voted Western State Conference Coach of the Year, while he mentored nearly a dozen all-conference players and eight who went on to Division I-II programs. He was also an associate head coach for the SBCC women's volleyball team that captured two WSC North titles. While working with the women's program, the team went 27-3 in league matches.

Zakarian has also worked with USA Volleyball as a High Performance coach for youth and got his coaching start as a graduate assistant coach with Sacramento State Women's Volleyball.

He played collegiately as an outside hitter and libero at UC Santa Barbara for two seasons (2005-07). As a senior, Zakarian helped the Gauchos to a No. 5 national ranking. He graduated from UCSB with a degree in communications in 2007 and earned his masters in kinesiology from Sacramento State in 2013. He and his wife, Honolulu native Lauren Minkel Zakarian, have one child, Klay.