Volleyball ( Women ' s )
From GWUEncyc
Article
Volleyball
Attack, Kill, Block, Dig and Ace . . . very harsh words for a sport as graceful as volleyball. Volleyball has a strong tradition at GW.
In 1979, the volleyball team entered its first year of NCAA Division I competition. Under Coach Pat Sullivan they succeeded in reaching the NCAA regional playoffs. The following year the team notched a 23- 9 mark. The team closed the 1980 season by sweeping the First Annual GW Classic defeating Georgetown, Maryland and six of the top teams on the East Coast. The volleyball team concluded its '84 campaign with a record of 23-11 under Sullivan. This gave them second place in the Atlantic 10. High point of the '85 season was the third consecutive victory in the Coca-Cola Classic. This successful season ended with a 22-14 record and the selection of senior Michelle Knox to the All-Conference first team. The 1987 team finished with 31-9 mark.
In 1992, the team completed an 18-match turnaround going from a 10-24 record in 1991 to a 28-10 mark. Under Coach Susie Homan, the 1993 team was 28- 8 and celebrated its best season. Winning two A-10 titles it then advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs before being eliminated by NCAA champion Long Beach State. 1994 was another outstanding year. With back to back championships of the A-10 tournament, the women's volleyball team had their first 30+ win season of the modern era. Svetlana Vtyurina captured, during the 1995 season, the all time NCAA "kill" record. The team finished with an 18-2 Atlantic 10 record. The 1997 Volleyball team finished its season with a 21-12 record and 11-9 in the Atlantic 10. In 1999 the team finished with 15-10, 10-7 in the Atlantic 10.
Susie Homan resigned as head coach after eight years. Yvette Moorehead coached for one year before her untimely death in 2000. Jojit Coronel [1]is now in his seventh year as the GW volleyball head coach. After serving as the assistant coach in 1999, Coronel was elevated to head coach in August 2000. In six years under Coronel, GW volleyball has advanced to the Atlantic 10 Tournament three times. GW won the A-10 title in 2000 capturing the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Under extremely difficult circumstances that year, Coronel kept his senior-laden squad focused on the season ahead and guided the players to a 25-6 record, the conference title and the team's first NCAA berth since 1995. Accordingly, he was named the conference's Coach of the Year and was selected as one of eight regional Coaches of the Year by the AVCA. In 2003, he guided the Colonials to a school-record 10-0 start en route to a 21-11 record and the No. 3 seed in the 2003 A-10 Tournament. Coronel came to GW after spending four seasons as the assistant coach for the men's volleyball program at the University of the Pacific, one of the top collegiate men's volleyball programs in the country. As the Colonials' assistant, Coronel served as the recruiting coordinator and was involved with every aspect of the GW program. Aside from his recruiting duties, he assisted in all phases of skill development, scouting and match preparation, as well as team travel. Coronel's responsibilities while at Pacific included recruiting, on-court training and other administrative duties.
Document Information
Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: University Archives subject files
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian
For more information about GW history
Contact:
Special Collections Research Center [2]
The Melvin Gelman Library [3]
The George Washington University [4]
2130 H Street, NW Suite 704
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7549
mailto:archives@gwu.edu
Please send us your questions and comments about the encyclopedia.
This site is maintained by the Special Collections Research Center and the Web Development Group.
