Alma Mater: Stony Brook University '97
Season as Head Coach: 20th overall, 7th at NYU
Career Record: 349-285 (.550) overall, 124-92 (.574) NYU
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4; (2005-07, 2013)
ECAC Tournament Appearances: 3; (2011-12, 2017)
Postseason Championships: 1; (2012 ECAC)
Jolie Ward is in her seventh year as the Head Coach of New York University’s women’s volleyball team. The Violets have produced an overall record of 124-92 (.574) during her tenure.
Last season, Ward led the Violets to an 18-17 record and to the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship.
Under Ward’s tutelage, junior captain Rayne Ellis produced a record-setting season. She totaled the second-most solo blocks (35), fifth-most total blocks (117) and the third-highest blocks per game (0.98) in a single season in program history. For her performances, Ellis was named First Team All-ECAC Metro and earned Honorable Mention All-University Athletic Association (UAA) accolades.
Ward’s players also excelled in the classroom. Five team members earned UAA Fall Sport All-Academic honors and six were named to NYU’s Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Committee’s (IAAC) Fall Honor Roll. In addition, Ellis and sophomores Daryl Mitchell and Annie Singh received the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports-Scholar Award.
In 2015, Ward led the team to a 16-18 record as several of her players produced notable performances. Nicole Frias graduated fifth on the team’s all-time list in sets played with 497 and earned All-UAA Honorable Mention accolades. Brooke Tannahill made her way into the NYU record book, compiling the team’s fourth-highest single-season totals in digs (585) and digs per set (4.68).
Off the court, Tannahill received UAA Fall Sport All-Academic honors, Frias and Ellis earned the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports-Scholar Award, and five Violets were named to NYU’s IAAC Fall Honor Roll.
In 2014, Ward’s Violets posted their fourth-consecutive 20-win season (20-18). Individually, MaTia Hughes earned Second Team All-UAA honors, was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-American and All-New York Region, and was selected ECAC Metro/Upstate Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Star. Frias was chosen Honorable Mention All-UAA and the NYU Violet Classic Most Outstanding Player.
In 2013, Ward led NYU to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship, the Violets’ first appearance in the tournament since the team’s Elite Eight run in 2010. The 2013 squad amassed a 28-8 overall record, including a 4-3 record in UAA Round Robin play and a 2-1 mark at the UAA Championship. The Violets went undefeated (9-0) at home in the Coles Sports Center en route to earning their 12th-straight postseason bid.
In 2012, Ward led the Violets to a 20-14 overall record and the #1 seed in the ECAC Metro/Upstate Division III Championship Tournament. The Violets went on to defeat all three of their opponents, winning the title for the first time since 2008.
In her first season at NYU in 2011, Ward guided a young squad that returned only one starter to the finals of the ECAC Championship. The Violets went 22-17 overall and 3-7 in the ultra-competitive UAA, while also capturing the season-opening NYU Labor Day Invitational.
Ward came to NYU with 13 years of head coaching experience, including the previous two at Princeton University, where she served as Head Coach of the women’s volleyball team and Director of Men’s and Women’s Volleyball. In her two seasons at Princeton, Ward’s teams compiled a 24-26 record, including a 13-12 overall mark and 8-6 Ivy League record in 2010.
Prior to her stint at Princeton, Ward spent one year as the Head Coach at Division I Manhattan College, five seasons at Eastern Connecticut State University and five seasons at Farmingdale State College.
Overall in her 19 seasons, Ward’s teams have compiled a 349-285 (.550) record, made four NCAA Tournament appearances, won three Little East Conference Championships, and earned one ECAC Championship.
A 1997 graduate of Stony Brook University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, Ward added a Master of Science degree in education from Dowling College in 2000.
A native of Bellport, NY, Ward resides in Manhattan with her partner, Jessica, and their children, Skylar and Maverick.
Ward’s Coaching Record
2011-16 124-92 .574 NYU (DIII)
2009-10 24-26 .480 Princeton University (DI)
2008 11-17 .393 Manhattan College (DI)
2003-07 104-84 .553 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2000-02 51-42 .548 Farmingdale State College (DIII)
1998-99 35-24 .593 Farmingdale State College (JUCO)
Year Record Pct.
2016 18-17 .514 NYU (DIII)
2015 16-18 .471 NYU (DIII)
2014 20-18 .526 NYU (DIII)
2013* 28-8 .778 NYU (DIII)
2012E 20-14 .588 NYU (DIII)
2011e 22-17 .564 NYU (DIII)
2010 13-12 .520 Princeton University (DI)
2009 11-14 .440 Princeton University (DI)
2008 11-17 .393 Manhattan College (DI)
2007 11-27 .289 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2006 30-10 .750 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2005 28-11 .718 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2004 21-16 .568 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2003 14-20 .412 Eastern Connecticut State University (DIII)
2002 15-17 .469 Farmingdale State College (DIII)
2001 15-18 .455 Farmingdale State College (DIII)
2000 21-7 .750 Farmingdale State College (DIII)
1999 18-11 .621 Farmingdale State College (JUCO)
1998 17-13 .567 Farmingdale State College (JUCO)
* = NCAA Tournament Second Round
e = ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate Championship Runner-up
E = ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate Championship Winner
TOTAL 349-285 (.550)
Division III 279-218 (.561)
Division I 35-43 (.449)
JUCO 35-24 (.593)
