Krista Lopata started working at Pepperdine in August 2011 upon her graduation from Seaver College. She began serving as the Assistant Athletic Chaplain in 2011 and became the full-time Athletic Chaplain in August 2014.

As the Athletic Chaplain, Lopata provides support to the student-athletes, teams and athletic community as a whole. She conducts individual meetings with the athletes and group meetings with the teams, as well as overseeing the Athlete Chapel, bible studies and spiritual mentorship of student-athletes. She strives to develop community within the Department of Athletics and also Pepperdine as a whole.

During her time as an undergraduate at Pepperdine, Lopata worked as an assistant to the former chaplain, Maurice Hilliard. She decided to join the Pepperdine team as a staff member in order to learn more from Hilliard and others she had a connection to within the Pepperdine athletic community.

Originally from La Verne, California, she attended Pepperdine for both her bachelor's and master's degrees, obtaining a B.A. in psychology and religion in 2011, and her M.A. in clinical psychology in 2014. Lopata was also a student-athlete as she played indoor volleyball throughout her college career (her maiden name is Krista Friedman).

She is married to Joel Lopata, a fellow student-athlete who played men's volleyball and graduated from Pepperdine in 2012.