The University of Delaware has hired Sara Matthews as their new head women’s volleyball coach, the school announced last Thursday.
Matthews comes from TCU, where she was an assistant for the last two seasons, and has also been on staff at USC (for 3 seasons as director of operations) and West Virginia (for 3 seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator). In her first season at TCU, Matthews served as recruiting coordinator and brought in the highest-rated class in program history – 15th, according to PrepVolleyball.com.
Matthews also has experience coaching at the club level with the Coast Volleyball Club in San Diego and with the Austin Juniors Volleyball Club and Texas Advantage Volleyball in Texas.
Matthews played her first two years of college volleyball at James Madison, who is a Colonial Athletic Association rival of Delaware, and then transferred to Kansas for her final two seasons, where she would eventually serve as a team captain as a senior. While at James Madison, she was named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association team. As a player, she was 1-0 against Delaware, and has never coached against the program.
“First and foremost I wanted to thank President (Dennis) Assanis and Chrissi Rawak for this incredible opportunity to join the Blue Hens family,” said Matthews, who becomes the fifth full-time head coach in Delaware volleyball history. “They are in the process of building something really special here at Delaware, with the university, in the community, and in the athletic department. Everything is in place for student-athletes to have a top-notch experience – great academics, a fun college town, first-rate facilities, and an athletic department that is doing everything to support each team. I couldn’t be more ecstatic to get going with this team. Also, a special thanks to (Senior Associate AD for Student Services & Sport Administration) Jenn Judy and Chrissi for making this all possible. We are excited for our family to join the Blue Hen community.”
TCU finished last season 15-13 and 7-9 in the Big 12. Delaware’s record in 2016 was 16-16 and 8-8 in the CAA, where they made a surprise run to the CAA Championship game before falling to James Madison. Matthews replaces interim head coach Brian Toron, who took over on October 16, 2016 when head coach Bonnie Kenny and associate head coach Cindy Gregory were fired without explanation.
SARA MATTHEWS COACHING CAREER YEAR-BY-YEAR
- 2008-10 – Director of Operations, University of Southern California
- 2010-12 – Coast Volleyball Club, San Diego, Calif.
- 2012-14 – Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, West Virginia University
- 2015-16 – Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Texas Christian University
- 2017-Present – Head Coach, University of Delaware
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