Head Coach Rob Pichardo enters his 15th season with the women’s volleyball program at Ramapo College. He has led the Lady Roadrunners to 14 NJAC Tournament appearances, including five championships appearances and five semi-final appearances, in addition to five ECAC’s tournament bids and one ECAC’s Tournament Title. Pichardo led the Roadrunners to the program's first NCAA berth during the 2016 season. He holds an impeccable career coaching record that now stands at 376-198 in Women’s Volleyball, along with an overall Men’s Volleyball at 100-47, (476-245 Women’s & Men’s combined). At Ramapo he holds a record of 276-154 in 14 seasons.
The 2018 squad finished with an 11-19 overall record. Morgan Ridgway earned NJAC Second Team All-Conference after starting all 30 matches for Ramapo. She tallied a team high 298 kills while she also contributed 32 aces, 266 digs and a .906 passing percentage.
During the 2017 season the team earned a bye into the NJAC Semifinals after finishing second in the regular season at 7-1 overall. The Roadrunners wrapped up the season at 19-7 overall while senior Larysa Iwaskiw earned her fourth All-America honor from the AVCA. Iwaskiw broke numerous offensive records at Ramapo. She is the single season (663 kills, 2016) and career (2,422 kills, '14-'17) record holder while she also holds the career record for kills in men and women's volleyball at Ramapo. She finished 2nd in career digs with 1,639 digs while she also holds the top 20 kills in a single match, the best being 40 kills in a match during the 2015 season. Iwaskiw was also the 2017-2018 NCAA Division III Statistical Champion for kills per set and points per set. This is the third time in Iwaskiw's career that she was named Statistical Champion in kills per set (6.83) and points per set (7.39). Following the 2017 season, Iwaskiw was named AVCA All-America Third Team, AVCA First Team All-Region, NJAC First Team All-Conference and All-ECAC Honorable Mention.
During the 2016 season, Pichardo the Roadrunners finished the season with 25 or more wins for the fifth time in program history, as they wrapped up the season at 25-6 overall. For his leadership and the team's accomplishments, Pichardo, was also named NJAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
The Roadrunners earned their first regular season conference title in school history after sweeping NJAC regular season play with an 8-0 record. They earned the #1 seed in the 2016 NJAC Tournament making their 12th straight appearance. The team made it to the championship match for the fourth time in school history (2008, 2010, 2011, 2016) and hosted the final at the Bradley Center, also a first for the program. Despite falling in the championship match, Ramapo was awarded with their first ever NCAA at-large bid in program history.
In late August 2005, Coach Pichardo took over the Roadrunner’s Women’s Volleyball a program that stood at 69-123 overall in its previous seven seasons. During his current tenure at Ramapo, he has compiled a mark of 246-172 overall Women’s record, 63-39 in conference. His program has posted numerous school historic records including a 8-0 Regular Season Champions, also being named 2016 NJAC Coach of the Year, while holding a #1 seed in conference and earning a historic At Large Bid to the 2016 NCAA Regional Championship. The team has seen other accomplishments as well such as, three #2 seeds in conference playoffs, as well as 5 ECAC Tournaments invitations. During the 2014 season, Pichardo earned his 200th career coaching victory at Ramapo College with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 27-25) blanking of #4 Rutgers-Newark University in the semi-final of the 2014 ECAC Championships. Coach Pichardo holds an impeccable career coaching record that now stands at 365-179 in Women’s Volleyball, along with an overall Men’s Volleyball at 100-47, (465-226 Women’s & Men’s combined).
Prior to Ramapo, Pichardo coached at CCNY, where the men’s and women’s volleyball programs compiled a record of 183-110 during a six year stint. He guided the men’s team to the NECVA Championship Tournament in four consecutive years and led the team to an 83-66 overall record. He captured a CUNYAC conference title in his first year (2000), one NECVA title, and one ECAC title in 2002. The team was also ranked as high as 7th in the National AVCA Division III Coaches poll.
Furthermore, he also guided the women’s program compiling a record of 100-44 in his six seasons turning the program from 10-11 in 2000 to a 16-4 record in 2001 and 19-9 in 2002. In 2003, Pichardo’s program reached new heights. With just one senior in the starting line-up, CCNY captured their first CUNYAC championship title since 1984 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Thereafter, once again, he led the program to its second CUNYAC championship, earning another trip to the NCAA’s. CCNY achieved a 24-5 record, establishing a school record for overall wins in one season.
In 2005, Coach Pichardo was chosen to put together and lead a very competitive group of female student-athletes to represent the CUNY Athletic Conference on a Goodwill Tour heading to Buenos Aires, Argentina, scheduled to play a series of very tough matches against some of the country’s top volleyball programs such as River Plate and Boca Jrs. among others.
His many accomplishments in the sport include being named the 2016-17 NJAC Coach of the Year, CUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2000, 2002, NECVA Coach of the Year in 2002, Hudson Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996 for the men and CUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004 for the women.
In 2011, Coach Pichardo was a recipient of the AVCA “300 Victory Club” award after earning 300 or more collegiate career victories. He is also a fellow member of the same association as well as USA Volleyball. He has now compiled nearly 450 NCAA career victories.
Coach Pichardo played for the CCNY program for four years and was a two-year captain. He’s formerly the founder and president of the Dominican Volleyball Association in the U.S.A. but continues to represent the Dominican Volleyball Federation away from the main land in the United States of America. He is the former head coach for the 6th Region Dominican National Volleyball Team and holds a FIVB Level 1 International Coaching Accreditation License, holds a USA CAP Level II Certification, and is also a USA High Performance Coach and Clinician. He is also part of DIGS Volleyball Club & Club Co-Director.
Coach Pichardo is a former Athletic Director at A. Philip Randolph Campus H.S. in New York City where he supervised 26 varsity and junior varsity programs that compete under the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) umbrella.
He is a US NAVY veteran, and holds a Physical Education degree from CCNY and an Urban and Multicultural Education Masters Degree from the College of Mt. St. Vincent.
He resides in West Nyack, NY in the County of Rockland with his wife Maria and their daughters Ashley and Tamara.
2019-2020 Season
