Bronx, NY (March 1, 2004) – Peter Volkert, head women’s volleyball coach at Manhattan College the past seven years, has been named head women’s volleyball coach at Fordham University it was announced today. Volkert becomes the tenth head coach in Fordham’s 28-year volleyball history.
“We are very excited to be able to find a coach with the talent and experience of a Peter Volkert,” said Fordham Director of Athletic Administration and Chairman of the Volleyball Search Committee Charlie Elwood. “He brings a wealth of experience to our volleyball program and we are confident that he will help Fordham rise to the top of the pack in the Atlantic 10.”
At Manhattan, Volkert led the Jaspers to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship in each of the past two years. This past fall, Manhattan finished with a 21-14 overall record, 8-1 in the MAAC, earning a number one seed at the MAAC Tournament. The Jaspers won the MAAC Tournament to earn their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament where they fell in the first round to Pepperdine.
Volkert had two players win MAAC honors last fall with senior tri-captain Luka Van Cauteren earning MAAC Player of the Year honors as well as First Team All-Conference accolades and sophomore Maggie Pfeifer being named First Team All-Conference. Pfeifer and Van Cauteren were also named to the 2003 New York Lottery Volleyball All-Academic Team.
In 2002, Manhattan compiled a 30-4 overall record, setting the school record for most wins in a season as the Jaspers won their first ever MAAC title and earned the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. The 30-4 record was among top ten winning percentages in the nation while the squad also set a school record with a 22-game winning streak during the season. In addition, four of his student-athletes were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team as well as one being named Third Team Academic All-American.
Volkert arrived at Manhattan in January of 1997 and proceeded to build one of the top volleyball programs in the area. He led the Jaspers to consecutive fourth place MAAC finishes in his first two years (1997 and 1998) before they moved up to third place in 1999. In 2000, Volkert guided the team to a 23-11 record and a third place regular season MAAC finish. The 23 wins were the most for the program since the 1989 team recorded 25 wins and Volkert earned MAAC Coach of the Year.
While at Manhattan, Volkert’s student-athletes also found success in the classroom with several players earning MAAC All-Academic honors as well as MAAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Prior to his stint at Manhattan, Volkert served as the head women’s volleyball coach at Pace University from 1994-96. He took over a program that recorded a 5-22 record in 1993 and led it to the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC) Tournament in 1994, the ECAC Tournament in 1995 and the NCAA Tournament in 1996 where the Setters advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
Volkert compiled a 78-26 record at Pace and the team’s record of 33-7 and 30-7 over his last two years helped the Setters to a 14th and 19th national ranking, respectively, in the NCAA Division II.
From 1993-94, Volkert served as the head men’s volleyball coach at Concordia College where he took a program that had won just one match in 1992 to the a fifth place ranking in the East for NCAA Division II schools.
Volkert also has experience on the high school level, serving as the head women’s coach at Good Counsel High School in White Plains, New York in 1993, leading the team to a 17-4 record and a fourth place finish in the New York State Finals.
A 1992 graduate of Concordia College with a bachelor’s degree in History and Secondary Education, Volkert has also earned master’s degrees from Iona College in Multicultural Education and Educational Administration.
Volkert, his wife, Stacey, their three-year-old daughter, Taylor, and their one-year-old son, Trevor, currently reside in Putnam Valley, NY.
