Hall of Fame
When Marc Laulhere arrived on campus at Orange Lutheran in 2001, he not only came to teach history, but he was given the challenge of establishing the school's boys volleyball program.
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Under Laulhere's coaching and guidance, the Lancers earned four straight league titles, the first came in just his second year at the helm. And in 2005, the program's fourth season, OLu won their first CIF championship.
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Laulhere also led the girls volleyball program for nearly a decade that saw the Lancers win five league titles. Additionally, he started OLu's girls beach volleyball program in 2022 and the surf program in 2016.
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In recognition of his significant contributions to OLu athletics across four sports over the last 25 years, Laulhere will be honored this summer as one of eight inductees in the Orange Lutheran Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
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An Orange County resident since elementary school, Laulhere was raised in Dana Point and attended Dana Hills High School where he played indoor volleyball and spent his free time surfing.
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After graduating high school in 1982, Laulhere played indoor volleyball at the community college level and then spent some time playing beach volleyball professionally in the early years of the pre-AVP beach volleyball movement.
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During those post-high school years, Laulhere also began his coaching career, returning to Dana Hills to coach indoor volleyball at the JV level under the mentorship of the late Oz Simmons, an NCAA champion and longtime Orange County high school volleyball coach.
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Simmons influence on Laulhere laid the groundwork for how he developed his coaching style.
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"He taught me so much about the game," said Laulhere of Simmons. "I would say the biggest thing he taught me is how I need to present myself on the court as a coach. He was so even keeled…Teams are going to have their ups and downs, but you've got to be the stable one as you're coaching. That was always my philosophy, and a lot of that philosophy came from Oz."
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Laulhere headed to the University of Utah for college, and while there, he coached volleyball at Park City High School for five years, leading the Miners to multiple league championships.
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Though he had spent several years coaching, Laulhere's journey to becoming a teacher – a move that eventually brought him to OLu – was all by God's hand.
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While working in the private sector and running his own business, Laulhere felt God's voice prompting him to make a career shift into education. After a series of events he believes were divinely orchestrated, he followed that calling, went back to school and landed at Century High School for his student teaching assignment.
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It was there that he met Mark Maietta, then Century's head volleyball coach and later OLu's Missions Program Director. Not only was Laulhere hired on at Century as a teacher, but he became the boys volleyball head coach and an assistant coach for the girls program.
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Laulhere saw coaching success at Century as well, leading the boys team to multiple CIF playoffs appearances, including in his first season with the program.
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So when Maietta moved to OLu, he immediately spoke to then principal Gregg Pinick about bringing Laulhere on board to teach and coach volleyball.
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It took some convincing, but Laulhere arrived on campus in 2001 and got to work building the Lancers boys volleyball program. He recruited a group of mostly inexperienced freshmen through open tryouts, many of them multi-sport athletes.
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Much like in his previous coaching roles, Laulhere found immediate success. The Lancers secured a playoff berth in their inaugural season, went on to win four consecutive league championships, and captured the CIF title in 2005, just four seasons after the program began.
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During his tenure as head volleyball coach for both the boys and girls programs, he guided the Lancers to multiple league titles and coached several standout players, including Orange Lutheran Hall of Fame inductees Travis Pinick '05 and Lauren Corp '09.
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But despite his success, Laulhere has always believed that coaching is about far more than just the sport. To him, it's a form of ministry. He is less focused on the statistics and records and more driven by the relationships he's built and the lasting impact he's had on the student athletes.
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"I don't ever really think back and look at the winning or losing," said Laulhere. "It's all about relationships. That has been the highlight for me."
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After stepping away from OLu's indoor volleyball program in 2016, Laulhere recalls how moved he was to see former players come back to campus to celebrate his retirement.
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"I think really what it's always come down to for me is the interaction with the kids," said Laulhere. "That epitomized my coaching career, my classroom career and everything. It's just that daily interaction with these kids. That's what I enjoyed the most."
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While he never imagined being inducted into the Orange Lutheran Athletics Hall of Fame, Laulhere is humbled by the honor and proud to have played a meaningful role in shaping the school's athletic program and influencing the lives of so many Lancer student athletes.
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"Now that I've reflected on it, I realize how special it is," said Laulhere. "And after I think back on my career, it really does make it special."
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He may no longer coaches indoor or beach volleyball, but Laulhere can still be found at Bolsa Chica Tower 18, leading the Lancers surf program. And he's staying open to whatever the future may hold.
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"Moving forward, I think God has other things that he's going to do in my life," said Laulhere. "I'm kind of excited to see what that is. I think there are going to be other doors that are going to open as well."
