Women's Beach Volleyball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- M.ORELLANA@tcu.edu
- Phone:
- (817) 257-4078
Majo Orellana joined the TCU Beach Volleyball staff as an Assistant Coach in August 2018. She has helped orchestrate the rise of the program to become a major player on the national stage, leading to the program's first National Championship in 2025.
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. 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. 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.
The 2022 season was also a historic season for the Horned Frogs. Starting the year voted as the CBVB Surprise Team of the Year, TCU set a new program record with totals wins (39), Top 10 victories (14) and Top 20 wins (21). 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. Orellana was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Assistant coach of the year at the end of the season for her coaching efforts throughout the year. She had been instrumental in TCU Beach Volleyball's rise, helping lead TCU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance this season, in her third year on staff. She was a driving force 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).
Despite Orellana’s second season at TCU being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped coach 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, She helped to coach 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.
In the fall of 2019 Orellana coached then incoming freshman, Daniela Alvarez, in the Quinzhou Open – a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event. Alvarez qualified for the main draw of that event and competed against the historic American duo Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat.
As a player, representing Guatemala, Orellana competed in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games in beach volleyball and also played indoor for the Guatemalan National Team from 1996 through 2008. She was the Captain on the national team from 1998-2008. Pairing in 2003 with Sylvana Rivera, the duo finished 5th while also picking up two 9th place finishes in 2007 and 2011 with Anna Ramírez. Orellana partnered up with Ramírez again at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games and came out of the competition in seventh place. Orellana was National Beach Volleyball Champion from 2001 through 2011. She was the Central American Champion 3 times: 2006, 2007 and 2010. She earned a Silver Medal in the Norceca Tour in 2010, plus seven 4th place finishes in her career.
Orellana has competed with her sister, a former TCU beach volleyball player (2019) and graduate assistant (2020-2021), Mandi Orellana in international competition with the duo picking up fifth and sixth place finishes at two NORCECA competitions in 2016. The pair played in four tournaments during the 2014 season with a best finish of sixth at the event in Antigua, Guatemala. They qualified and competed at the FIVB World Championships in the Hague, Netherlands in 2015, becoming the first Guatemalan pair to participate in the World Championships.
From August 2017 through August 2018, Orellana was the director of Coast Beach Volleyball Club. Running the Elite Developing Program, she had three athletes earn medals at the USA High Performance Championships in the U15 and U17 divisions.
From June 2013 to December 2016, Orellana was hired and moved to San Diego to coach at the San Diego Beach Volleyball Club. She created the College Prep Program in 2014 for SD Beach and since then over 30 athletes have been placed in Division 1 beach volleyball teams. From the end of 2014 to December 2016, she was the Executive Director for SD Beach and led the club to be the overall Club Champions at the 2016 BVCA, AAU Power League Club Champions, and several individual top 5 finishes in Junior Olympics, Junior Nationals, and CBVA Tour stops. Also in 2016, she helped coach team Muret-Filippone at the USA HP Championshps and won gold to represent USA at the U19 World Championships in Cyprus.
In 2018, she also coached Megan Kraft to a fifth-place finish at the U19 World Championships in Nainjin, China. Another huge highlight came in 2012 when Orellna coached Guatemala's national teams in the FIVB Youth World Championships in Cyprus.
Orellana was also the founder of Dig It by Majo Orellana where she coached beach volleyball players from Central American and helped link them to the United States to play at the next level. Orellana had two former athletes represent Guatemala at the U19 World Youth Championships in Cyprus in 2012 and two play beach volleyball collegiately.
She also has her FIVB Coaching Certification which she earned in 2011. Orellana attended an Andi-Doping Coaches Seminar held by the World Anti-Doping Agency and she traveled to Greece in 2002 for the International Olympic Academy. She also has her Sports Management Certification.
Orellana earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising from the Universidad Rafael Landívar in 2004.
