Jaylen Reyes joined the Nebraska volleyball program as an assistant coach in March 2018. Reyes coaches the Husker liberos and defense while helping coordinate game plans and scouting reports and assisting with other positions. He also serves as the Huskers’ recruiting coordinator.
In his first year on the Nebraska volleyball staff as an assistant coach in 2018, Reyes made a huge impact in helping the Huskers to a fourth-straight final four and an NCAA runner-up finish with a team that included eight newcomers. Reyes coordinated Nebraska’s blocking and defense and led the Huskers to a .144 opponent hitting percentage. That mark led the Big Ten, and Nebraska held 13 opponents to their season-low hitting percentage. In conference play only, the Huskers averaged 2.89 blocks per set, the most in the Big Ten.
Under Reyes’ guidance, middle blocker Lauren Stivrins hit .421 during the 2018 season, the fourth-highest mark in school history, and she was an AVCA first-team All-American. Middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach had 177 total blocks, a Nebraska freshman record and the eighth-highest total by a Husker in the rally-scoring era. In May 2019, Reyes served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team as they toured Japan.
In 2019, Reyes’ second season on staff, the Huskers ranked eighth in the nation and led the Big Ten with a .152 opponent hitting percentage despite no seniors on the roster for the first time in school history. NU also ranked in the top 25 nationally with a .267 hitting percentage, the third-best mark among Big Ten teams. Stivrins and Lexi Sun were named AVCA All-Americans. In 2020, Reyes focused on coaching the Husker liberos and coordinating the Huskers’ defense. Nebraska was once again one of the top defensive teams in the Big Ten, holding opponents to .168 hitting to rank second.
A former libero at BYU, Reyes led Nebraska’s back row defense to new heights in the 2021 season. Led by AVCA first-team All-American and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Lexi Rodriguez, the Husker defense propelled the young squad all the way to the NCAA Championship match. Rodriguez set a Nebraska freshman record for digs in a season (524), and as a team the Huskers averaged 16.98 digs per set, the third-highest total in school history.
In 2022, the Huskers hit a new milestone, leading the nation in opponent hitting percentage at .128, the Huskers’ best defensive effort since the 2005 season. Rodriguez was an AVCA All-American for the second straight year.
Serving as the Huskers’ recruiting coordinator, Reyes helped Nebraska land the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class for both 2021 and 2023 according to PrepVolleyball.com, as well as the No. 2-ranked class for 2022.
Prior to Nebraska, Reyes was an assistant coach for the BYU men’s volleyball team from 2016-18. He handled player development and was the recruiting coordinator for the Cougars, who reached the NCAA Championship match in 2016 and 2017 and were NCAA semifinalists in 2018. A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Reyes is the son of Tino Reyes, who was the head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from 2010-15 and spent 17 years as associate head coach on the Hawaii men’s volleyball coaching staff.
Reyes helped lead BYU to a 26-5 (16-2 MPSF) record in 2017, winning a share of the conference regular-season title. The Cougars reached the national championship match for a second-consecutive season. BYU went 27-4 (19-3 MPSF) in 2016 – Reyes’ first season on staff – also winning the conference title and playing in the national final. In 2018, the Cougars reached the national semifinals once again and finished with a 22-7 overall record while winning the MPSF tournament title. Reyes coached four AVCA All-Americans in each of his three seasons at BYU.
Reyes’ other coaching experience includes serving as the lead coach at the Gold Medal Squared Clinic since 2014, and as an assistant coach with the SCVA High Performance Team in the International Youth Division at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships, winning silver in 2017 and bronze in 2016.
Reyes received his bachelor’s degree from BYU in exercise science in 2015. He was the starting libero for the Cougars from 2012-15 and received AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2015. Reyes helped his team to back-to-back MPSF regular-season and tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013-14. Reyes is BYU’s all-time rally-scoring era leader in games played (431) and is second in career digs (762).