Hired in 2006, Jennifer Gardikas is in her fourth season as an assistant coach with the NYU women’s volleyball team after helping lift the Violets to national prominence as a student-athlete. .
Last season, Gardikas helped lead the Violets to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Upstate Championship title. NYU went 25-16 and placed Elizabeth Dick and Erin Noonan on the University Athletic Association (UAA) All-Association Honorable Mention squad.
In 2008, Gardikas helped develop a talented young roster as NYU earned its sixth-straight postseason invitation, finishing 19-19 and advancing to the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Tournament. She helped recruit freshman Erin Noonan, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III New York Region Rookie of the Year.
In Gardikas’ first season on the staff, the Violets went 33-7 and qualified for their fifth straight NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship. They also won their fourth consecutive New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association title.
Before joining the NYU coaching staff, Gardikas was a three-year member of the Violets’ volleyball team (2003-05) and an integral part of the Violets’ rise to national prominence. The Violets advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen all three years of her career, reached the Final Four twice (2003, 2004), and finished as national runner-up in 2003.
Gardikas earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors and was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team in 2003. As a senior, she earned AVCA Third Team All-America honors and was voted CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American. A two-time team captain who set the NYU single-season record with 115 service aces in 2005, Gardikas was a First Team All-UAA selection in 2003 and a Second Team honoree in both 2004 and 2005.
Prior to enrolling at NYU, Gardikas, a native of Huntington Beach, CA, played one season at California Community College, where she earned First Team All-Sunset League honors.
Gardikas is a 2006 NYU graduate with a degree in marketing from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study,
