Women's Beach Volleyball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- h.gutierrez@tcu.edu
- Phone:
- (817) 257-5324
Coach Gutierrez can be reached via email at h.gutierrez@tcu.edu or in his office at (817) 257-5324.
Hector Gutierrez was named head coach of the TCU Beach Volleyball program on November 9, 2016.
In his nine seasons at the helm, Gutierrez has built the Horned Frogs into a powerhouse on the national stage. TCU has claimed three consecutive conference championships and in 2025 became the first school other than UCLA or USC to win the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship. In addition, Gutierrez has overseen the development of multiple high-level players who have been recognized on both the national and international stage.
The 2025 season was the culmination of years of work as TCU broke through and claimed its first National Championship. The Horned Frogs swept their first two matches of the NCAA Tournament before taking down No. 6 Cal Poly to advance to the National Title. In the final, the Frogs were able to upend No. 4 LMU, 3-2, to become the first program other than USC and UCLA to be at the top of the sport.
The Big 12 celebrated its inaugural season of Beach Volleyball in 2025. TCU made a resounding statement by earning the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, and it went on to win its third consecutive conference crown, this time under the Big 12 banner.
The Horned Frogs were a fixture in the top five of the AVCA Coaches’ Poll throughout the entire season, never falling below No. 5 in any edition. The team also excelled against elite competition, posting a 23-5 record against ranked opponents.
Thanks to the success during the season, a multitude of Frogs earned postseason accolades. The highlight of this was Daniela Alvarez claiming AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Player of the Year. Alvarez also earned AVCA First Team All-America honors, while Tania Moreno and Hailey Hamlett picked up Second Team recognition. In the first year of Big 12 Beach Volleyball, Anhelina Khmil and Ana Vergara earned Big 12 Pair of the Year accolades. In addition, Sofia Izuzquiza was tabbed Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and Gutierrez earned Coach of the Year honors from the conference. Six Frogs earned a spot on the All-Conference Team, with Alvarez, Maria Gonzalez, Hamlett, Khmil, Moreno and Vergara all getting the tab.
In 2024, TCU entered Conference USA and wasted no time establishing its dominance, earning the No. 1 seed in the C-USA Tournament and going undefeated in regular season conference play. The Horned Frogs went on to win the 2024 C-USA Championship, adding another title to the program's growing legacy. The pairing of Hailey Hamlett and Anhelina Khmil received widespread recognition for their stellar performance, including C-USA Pair of the Year, All-C-USA Team honors, AVCA Top Flight status, and AVCA All-American First Team selections. Their season also included a first-place finish at the 2023 AVCA National Pairs Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama. Individually, Sutton MacTavish was named an AVCA All-American Second Team honoree, while Olivia Clines was recognized as the C-USA Freshman of the Year.
The 2023 season was the most successful in program history, which was capped with Guiterrez garnering AVCA Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. TCU won its first conference championship under CCSA as the No. 1 seed. This was the first season for the Horned Frogs to be given the No. 1 spot, a position they held for six consecutive weeks. TCU ended their 2023 campaign No. 3, the highest the team has ended a season.
TCU sailed to many program highs this season, including the Frogs' first NCAA Final Four appearance in program history. The Horned Frogs defended a 36-match home winning streak dating back to 2020 and tallied 27 sweeps this season, seven of which were ranked. In addition to Guiterrez’s accolade, No. 1 pairing Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno were named AVCA All-American and AVCA Pair of the Year.
The 2022 season was also a historic season for the Horned Frogs, which featured Guiterrez being awarded CCSA Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career. Starting the year as the CBVB Surprise Team of the Year, TCU set a new program record with 39 total wins, 14 Top 10 victories and 21 Top 20 wins. The Frogs led the nation with 39 wins and were ranked No. 3 or higher for 10 consecutive weeks. In addition, the Frogs finished undefeated at home for the second straight season. TCU finished the season ranked No. 6 in the final AVCA poll and finished seventh overall at the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Individually, four pairings garnered AVCA Top Flight honors, the most TCU pairings to earn the recognition in program history. Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno garnered 1st-Team All-American honors and Kaylie McHugh was named a 2nd-Team All-American. Additionally, the Frogs received several CCSA postseason honors. Alvarez and Moreno earned Pair of the Year and were named to the All-Conference Team. Maria Gonzalez was also named to the All-Conference Team alongside partner, Ana Vergara. Vergara earned herself Freshman of the Year and made the All-Freshman Team alongside Hailey Hamlett.
2021 was a year of first for the Beach Volleyball team. Gutierrez coached the team to a 26-10 record and was instrumental in the Horned Frogs perfect, 12-0, record at home this season. As a team, TCU beat 10 ranked opponents and earned nine 5-0 victories, including a program-best streak of five sweeps in a row (March 14-20). The Frogs finished their season as No. 8 in the nation and made their first ever NCAA appearance.
Despite the 2020 season at TCU being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he coached the team to an 11-4 record. One of the most notable matches of the season includes a victory against No. 17 Arizona at the Fight in the Fort Tournament on March 7. The team set a then-program best home record of 7-1 in 2020.
In 2019, Gutierrez helped to lead the team to an improved 18-16 record which includes five ranked victories. The first notable ranked matches were back-to-back wins against No. 16 Georgia State (3-2) and No. 17 Tulane (4-1) at the Horned Frogs Challenge on March 1. TCU collected its next ranked victory against No. 13 LMU (3-2) at the Waves’ Invite on March 13. Two more notable wins were achieved at the Surf and Turf Invitational against No. 16 GCU (3-2) and No. 10 Stetson (3-2) on the March 29th weekend.
Within his second season at TCU, he helped coach the team to a 10-22 overall record with a notable 4-1 win against No. 11 Georgia State at the Florida State Tournament in Tallahassee on April 6. At the end of the 2018 season, Cassie House and Haven Hill were selected to play in the Bridgestone USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships, marking the second consecutive year that the Horned Frogs have had representation in the event.
During his first season at TCU, Gutierrez coached the team to an 18-8 overall record including a previous program high of 6 ranked wins in 2017. The Horned Frogs first ranked win of the season came against No. 15 Cal Poly (3-2) on March 16th in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The team continued their momentum with a 3-2, victory over No. 10 Arizona State the next weekend in Malibu, Calif. The Horned Frogs collected other ranked wins against No. 19 Stanford (4-1), No. 10 Georgia State (3-2), No. 13 Florida International (3-2) and No. 14 Florida Atlantic (3-2). At the end of his first season, Gutierrez had two players, Amy Neal and Jaelyn Greene selected to play in the 2017 USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships.
Prior to coming to Fort Worth, Gutierrez was an assistant coach for the beach volleyball program at Florida State where he helped lead the team to the No. 1 overall seed in the first-ever NCAA Championship, while also helping guide the team to a runner-up finish in the tournament. During the 2015-16 season, the Seminoles won the CCSA Championship, produced two AVCA All-Americans, garnered four CCSA All-Conference selections and the CCSA Pair of the Year.
Gutierrez comes to TCU with a wealth of international experience both as an indoor and beach volleyball coach. Before his position at Florida State, Gutierrez spent 10 months as a head coach on the USA beach volleyball national team. Before joining USA beach volleyball, Gutierrez served as head coach on the Slovakia (2014) Beach Volleyball national women’s team and an assistant coach on the German Beach Volleyball national team from 2012 to 2013. He also worked with the Swiss Beach Volleyball national team for one year (2011-12).
With the U.S. squad, Gutierrez led the team of Brittany Hochevar and Heather McGuire to a ninth place showing at the Prague Open in the Czech Republic. He then led Hochevar and teammate Jennifer Fopma to a ninth-place finish at the Long Beach Grand Slam in California.
As coach of the Slovakian Beach Volleyball team, Gutierrez led Dominika Nestracova and Natalia Dubovcova to a season-best third place finish at the Stavanger Grand Slam in Norway. The duo went on to post four top 10 finishes in 2014 en route to a final Federation Internationale De Volleyball (FIVB) ranking of 13th.
During his stint as an assistant with the German National Team, Gutierrez helped the women’s team of Karla Borger and Britta Buthe to a second-place finish at the 2012 World Championships in Stare Jablonki, Poland. That squad finished the 2012-13 season ranked 11th in the FIVB world rankings.
Gutierrez also spent time as a second assistant coach for women’s indoor teams in Turkey (Diyarbakir V.C. – 2011) and Azerbaijan (Baki BAKU V.C. – 2012) and an assistant coach with MTV Stuttgart of the Women’s Bundesliga I in Germany. He also served as head coach of the Volero Zurich men’s team of the NLB League for one season.
His coaching background also includes stints with the Sunshine Volleyball Club in Santa Monica, Calif., and as an assistant coach at Brentwood High School in Los Angeles.
Gutierrez began his professional playing career at the age of 17 playing all throughout Spain. He was a member of C.V Orotava that finished second in the FEV Spanish Volleyball League “Pro 1” in 2004. He also played in the European League, CEV CUP, with C.V Arona in Tenerife, Spain, helping the team to a fifth place finish in the league “Pro 1.”
Born in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Gutierrez moved to Tenerife with his family when he was eight years old. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Pedagogy from the University of La Laguna, Tenerife. Gutierrez is married to Katie Carter, an All-American volleyball player at UCLA and current professional indoor player.
