Bob Schneck - Click for more info

Director 

E-mail: mailto:BSCHNECK@URI.EDU

The RIVBC was created in 1984 by Bob Schneck, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach for the University of Rhode Island. 

Bob Schneck enters his 29th season at the helm of the University of Rhode Island volleyball program in 2009-2010. During that time, he's compiled a record of 497-387-2, good for a winning percentage of .564.  This season Schneck became the 26th coach in NCAA history to win 500 matches.  

Schneck's philosophy of pursuing every ball - no matter how far away it appears to be - has been the cornerstone of his success at URI. His teams have captured three Atlantic 10 tournament titles (1991, `92 and `96), received three NCAA tournament bids (1985, `91 and `96) and reached the semifinals of the National Invitation Volleyball Championships in 1995. Through the years, Schneck has shown the ability to develop talent into success. His teams have qualified for the conference tournament 18 times, including a remarkable 11 trips to the finals.

Schneck's Rams have won 25-or-more matches nine times, including back-to-back 30-win campaigns in 1995 and '96. The 1995 team finished 30-8, was second in the league and advanced to the Final Four of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. In '96, when URI wound up with a school-record 31 victories, the Rams became the first school in Atlantic 10 history to win 19 conference games, then added the league tournament title to their regular-season crown and moved on to the NCAA tournament.

Schneck is widely recognized among college volleyball coaches for his astute knowledge and his ability to teach others the finer aspects of the game.  Schneck has tutored 32 All-Atlantic 10 performers. He also has had six conference Freshman of the Year honorees and two conference Players of the Year. Schneck was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1995 and NCAA District I Coach of the Year in both '95 and '96. Schneck's players excel off the court as well. Kengy Gardiner-Bell (1988-91), who went on to become the seventh-ranked beach volleyball player on the pro circuit, was an All-American and winner of the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award for 1991-92. Yolanda Bogacz, the 2001 team captain, was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and a Holmes Award recipient as the top female athlete at Rhode Island. Amy Kauppila (2000-02) was named a District I Academic All-American and was a recipient of the Holmes Award. Former Ram Diane Short joined Schneck in the coaching ranks at in-state rival Brown University and, more recently, former players Abby Thornbladh and Betty Arana have served on Schneck's coaching staff.  In 2007, former URI standout Rachel Bello served as one of his assistant coaches while she worked to complete her kinesiology degree.

Aside from his coaching duties at URI, Schneck is active in several other areas of volleyball. He is on the staff of the USA Coaching Accreditation Program - which is composed of 40 of the nation's most experienced and successful coaches. The group works to provide standards for professional development and advancement at various competitive levels. Schneck also served on the voting panel of the Division I/Tachikara Top 20 coaches' poll for nine years and spent three years as a member of both the NCAA Mideast Regional Committee and the All-American Selection Committee. In 1984, he helped organize and host the National Junior Olympic volleyball championship in Kingston, R.I. The following year, he coached the East team at the National Sports Festival (later known as the Olympic Festival) in Indianapolis, Ind.

Schneck founded the Rhode Island Juniors Volleyball Club in 1991.  The program was revived in 2001 and Schneck served as Director and Head Coach until 2007.  During this time his team won 2 Regional Championships and earned the Region's bid to the Junior Olympic National Championships 3 times and attended the JO's in 2005 & 2006.  From the club a multitude of our athletes have gone on to compete and receive athletic scholarships in college.  

    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *       

Lisa Schneck

Assistant Director

E-mail: SchneckVBall@aol.com

Administrator for the RIVBC since 1986.  In charge of maintaining the website, mailings, camp information, staff information, camper registration.  Co-Founder of Rhode Island Juniors Volleyball Club in 1991 and Assistant Director of the Rhode Island Juniors Volleyball Club from 2000-2007.  

    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *       

2010 HEAD COACHES:

Steve Santonastaso - University of Rhode Island alum, Steve Santonastaso, joined the women's volleyball coaching staff after spending the last 12 years in the sports hotbed of California. Santonastaso shared all the duties of running the volleyball program with head coach Bob Schneck, including recruiting, player development, floor coaching, travel, budget and academics. "Steve is the most qualified candidate that I have hired as the top assistant since I've been here," Schneck said. "He brings a wealth of experience, he has won national championships in junior Olympics and he had success at the high school level. Steve will really be able to contribute on the floor in teaching, which will help with the large group of newcomers we have this year. He's a teacher and that's what we need." The Cranston, R.I. native was the head varsity coach at Presentation High in San Jose, Calif since 1997, having led the team to four Central Coast Section championships in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. Santonastaso guided Presentation High to five Northern California state tournaments and in 2002 the team won the Northern California championship. In his eight years at Presentation, Santonastaso coached 11 players who earned scholarships to Division I Institutions. Santonastaso was also involved with junior Olympic club volleyball, serving as a City Beach Volleyball Club head coach since 1997 and as the club's associate director since 1998. While coaching City Beach, he led the club to a gold medal at the USA Volleyball Junior Olympics in 2002, a silver in 2004 and a bronze in 2001. He coached nine junior national All-Americans and 14 players who signed Division I scholarships, including seven who went on to be All-Americans. Santonastaso attended Cranston East High, where he played on the boy's volleyball team in its first year of existence. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Rhode Island, while playing setter and right side hitter on the men's club volleyball team from 1990-93. Santonastaso was also involved in helping the Rams to a second-place finish at the 1993 National Club Volleyball Championships in Austin, Texas. He was a part of back-to-back New England Collegiate Volleyball League championships in 1990 and 1991, earning the NECVL Most Valuable Player award in 1991. He also helped lead the Rams to a pair of Intercollegiate Volleyball Association titles in 1992 and 1993. After graduating from Rhode Island in 1993 with a bachelor of arts degree in physical education with a concentration in athletic training, Santonastaso headed west to earn his menders in athletic training at Sal Jose State University.

    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *       

Damian Elder - Former long time staff member, Damian is back this summer!  In his fourth season with the Gamecocks, Damian Elder joined the staff at South Carolina in March 2006. In June, Elder was promoted to associate head coach, as he helps lead the staff's efforts in recruiting, practice management and instruction. Elder also coordinates the program's sand volleyball efforts, as that sport is up for inclusion on the NCAA's emerging sports for women list.

During his time in Columbia, the Gamecocks have made great strides to return to prominence in the Southeastern Conference. Last season's squad led the league in hitting percentage and ranked second in digs, a vast improvement over the fifth-place finishes in each category a year ago. The team also saw its members pick up five postseason awards, with three earning AVCA All-South Region honorable mentions.

The sand program under development has thrived thus far at South Carolina. In the spring of 2009, the Gamecocks claimed the Commissioner's Cup at the second SEC Beach Volleyball Coaches' Championship at Siesta Key, Fla. The Garnet and Black's Jordan Bradosky and Hannah Lawing finish second in the gold bracket, while Bridget Denson-Dorman and Ivana Kujundzic triumphed in the silver bracket. That bettered the Gamecocks' second-place team finish in 2008's event in Gainesville, Fla.

Elder came to South Carolina from Stanford, where he served for two years as a volunteer assistant coach for the Cardinal's women's program. While at Stanford, Elder assisted on the 2004 NCAA championship staff and helped coach AVCA Player of the Year and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member Ogonna Nnamani.

Prior to Stanford, Elder was an assistant coach at Fresno City College in Fresno, Calif., where he helped his team finish second in its conference with a 25-6 (.806) record. From 1996 to 2003, Elder was a head coach at the Fresno Volleyball Club and served as club director from 1999 to 2002.

Elder got his coaching start at Bullard High School in Fresno, acting as the varsity head coach from 1997 to 2000. His teams compiled a 111-19 overall record during his tenure, good for an .854 winning percentage. Bullard H.S. was crowned section champions in 2000 and placed third in the California Interscholastic Federation Division I State Volleyball Championships.

A graduate of Fresno State, Elder earned his Bachelor of Arts in English in 2002.

    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *       

Elaini Kollias - Elaini Kollias enters her sixth season as an assistant coach with the Rebels.

Kollias has been at UNLV for all five years of the resurgence of the program and has helped coach the team to no less than 15 wins in each of her years in Las Vegas. She has helped head coach Allison Keeley to an overall mark of 90-57. Included in those 90 victories are back-to-back seasons of at least 20 victories with a school-record 24 amassed in 2007.

Prior to UNLV, she spent three years as a graduate assistant and assistant coach with West Virginia's volleyball team. During her time in Morgantown she was responsible for on-court coaching as well as actively recruiting the West Coast.

"Elaini is extremely personable, has a ton of energy and a great work ethic," said UNLV head coach Allison Keeley. "This combination of attributes makes her a great asset on the court and a tremendous recruiter."

Before joining the Mountaineer staff, Kollias spent eight seasons as a head coach for the Saddleback Valley Volleyball Club, coaching various age levels. She also assisted in a number of volleyball summer camps over the years, including the Junior National Performance camp and the South Coast Beach Volleyball camp.

Kollias started her playing career at Saddleback Junior College (Mission Viejo, Calif.) where she was named team MVP twice and was a two time all-conference member. She was later inducted into the Saddleback Hall of Fame. She then went on to play for Concordia University in Irvine, Calif., and set a school record for most kills in a match with 34. Kollias holds the career record for kills and is third in all-time assists for the Eagles.

In 2002, she was a member of an American contingent that won the gold medal at the Scottish National Championships. The team was coached by George Mason University's Pat Kendrick.

Kollias is from Dana Point, Calif., and graduated from Concordia University in 1996 with a B.A. in elementary education. She earned her master's degree in athletic coaching education in 2002 from West Virginia.

    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *