Jeff Costa begins his third season as the head women's volleyball coach at Merrimack College, and will guide the program in its first season as a member of the Northeast Conference in 2019. Costa will be in his fifth year with the program overall, serving as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015 and 2016. 

The 2018 season saw Costa guide a resilient group that won the program's most five-set matches in four years, winning three NE10 matches that went the distance including a five-set win over a Saint Anselm program that reached the NCAA Tournament at season's end. Coaching a trio of seniors who were freshman during his debut season, Costa guided seniors Amanda Cain, Sofia Basauri and Katelynn Marr in their final seasons with the program. He also brought in an impressive recruiting class that saw six newcomers take the court for Merrimack in 2018, which equaled the most for the program since 2011. 

During Costa's debut campaign, the Navy and Gold played tournaments on Long Island and in Delaware, while winning on Homecoming Weekend against Saint Michael's. Costa guided seniors Mary Kate McCarroll and Christina Nye to strong final seasons, with McCarroll notching the first 40-plus ace season for a Warrior in seven years and Nye finishing among the program leaders in career digs with nearly 1,000. 

Costa becomes the 11^th head coach in school history, after joining the program during the 2015 campaign as the assistant coach. In addition to his Merrimack duties, he has served as the head coach of the Nor’ East Junior Olympic Volleyball Club U16-18 squad since 2005.

During his first two seasons with the Warriors, Costa coached some of the top individual student-athletes to come through the program. He guided Madison Burke ’16 to an all-conference campaign as one of the best liberos in school history in 2015. In 2016, he helped Tara Stuhr become just the second setter at Merrimack to reach 4,000 career assists.

Merrimack will not be Costa’s first head coaching position at the collegiate level, as from 2010-11 he led the men’s volleyball program at Lesley University. He also has experience in the high school ranks, directing the Methuen High School boys volleyball team from 2004-06.

Costa graduated from Rivier University in 2005 with a bachelor of science in business administration, and currently resides in Methuen, Mass.