Sarah Kirkwood is in her second season as an assistant coach with the New York University women’s volleyball team. She aids with the Violets’ scouting, training, recruiting, and in-match strategy.
In her first season with the Violets, Kirkwood helped a young squad that returned only one starter reach the finals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro/Upstate Championship. Overall, NYU went 22-17 and 3-7 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while capturing the title of its season-opening Labor Day Invitational. The trip to the ECAC’s extended the Violets’ streak of consecutive postseason appearances to 10.
Kirkwood came to NYU after serving as a graduate assistant at the University of Virginia for the 2009-10 seasons and with several years of experience coaching camps in both Charlottesville and Tampa, FL.
A 2008 graduate of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in cognitive science and a pre-medicine concentration in neuroscience, Kirkwood had one of the most outstanding volleyball careers in Cavalier history at outside hitter. She established team records for career kills, kills per set and service aces, and graduated ranked sixth all-time in hitting percentage and eighth in digs.
During her time at Virginia, Kirkwood racked up numerous accolades. She was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-American as a sophomore and senior, as well as a two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American – including receiving First Team honors her junior year.
A two-year team captain, Kirkwood was also selected All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each of her four years and was named the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2004. She was a three-time Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Player of the Year.
Off the court, Kirkwood received the Thomas Rodney Crowley, Jr. Scholarship and the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award. She was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
Following graduation, Kirkwood continued her career professionally. She had stints in the Association of Volleyball Professionals in Los Angeles, ICOT Volleyball 2002 in Italy and Valencianas Volleyball in Puerto Rico.
Kirkwood earned her Master of Science degree in commerce with a concentration in Financial Services from Virginia in 2010. She is currently pursuing her law degree from Cardozo School of Law.
A native of Tampa, FL, Kirkwood resides in Manhattan.
