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Linnea Mendoza Meister

Linnea Mendoza Meister, Hall of Fame Athlete
Linnea Mendoza Meister, Hall of Fame Athlete
Linnea Mendoza Meister attended Santa Barbara High School and was a four-year letter winner in volleyball and a two-year varsity soccer athlete. She made her mark in 1990 as the first athlete at Santa Barbara High – boy or girl – to play varsity volleyball as a freshman. She played in every match and became a starter halfway through the season.

Meister set school volleyball records – single match assists (66 in 1993) and assists in a season with 1,066 and 468 digs (both in 1993). She was a three-time All-Channel League selection (1991, 1992, 1993) and League MVP in 1992 and 1993. Meister led the Dons to the Channel League title in both 1991 and 1992 enjoying 13-1 and 14-0 seasons respectively. She was named the to the SB News Press All-County Volleyball Team in three times in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and named MVP in 1992 and 1993, while also garnering the SB Athletic Round Table Girls’ Volleyball Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994. Meister’s teams qualified for CIF Division 1 Championships in each of her four years and went to the All-CIF State Championships in 1992 and 1993 – the first SBHS team to do so. She was named First-Team All-CIF in 1992 and to the Phenomenal-Fifty- All-CIF Coaches Poll (top 13) as a leading All-State candidate. She was named to the USA Youth National Training Camp in 1993.

Meister went on to a full athletic scholarship in volleyball at the University of Michigan where she was a four-year letter winner from 1994-98. A two-time team MVP (1996, 1997) and an All-Big Ten Conference First Team selection in 1997, Mendoza-Meister helped the Wolverines to their first NCAA Tournament bid in 1997. She notched five Michigan individual assist leader records in 1997 including: assists per match (95, #3 in Big Ten), assists per season (1,677, #4 in Big Ten), assists per Conference season (1,052), career assists (5,072, #9 in Big Ten) and assists per game (13.52, #10 in Big Ten). In 1997 she held the #2 spot in Michigan’s career matches played with 120 and held the #3 spot in the NCAA for the single-match assists record with 75 vs. Illinois.

Meister holds a BA in secondary education and has a single-subject teaching credential in history with a minor in physical education. She has been a social studies teacher at Santa Barbara High School since 1999 and has coached at all levels of the Dons volleyball program. She is married to David Meister and they have a son, Nathan – whose birth, along with her athletic scholarship to Michigan – she counts as her proudest moment.