Gary Patch Named Women's Volleyball Coach at Assumption College

WORCESTER, Mass. --- Gary Patch, one of Central New Englands leading volleyball personalties, and the head coach at both WPI and the Bancroft School, has been named the women's volleyball coach at Assumption College.

The announcement was made by Ted Paulauskas, Director of Athletics.

Patch replaces Bob Stein, who resigned after three seasons with the Greyhounds. The team finished 12-14 overall this past season as one of the most improved teams in the region.

Patch is finishing his first year as the head coach with the successful Bancroft School (Worcester, MA) program---the Bulldogs are currently 20-0 and are riding a 2-1/2-year winning streak. The team has not dropped a match or a set in that span, winning each match, 3-0. They are hoping to win their seventh straight Eastern Independent League championship and also defend their New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) tournament championship for the third straight year.

He assumed control of the WPI volleyball program this past fall and recorded 11 victories---most by an Engineer team since 1999.

He has also coached at Ursuline Academy (Dedham, MA) and took that school to the sectional finals in 2003 and was the boys and girls volleyball coach at Framingham, MA High in 2005-06.

In addition, he has extensive experience at the club volleyball level. He has been involved with Smash Volleyball---Junior Olympic girls-under-18 elite team---for the past four years and was head coach of the High Performance New England USA Volleyball Girls Youth 2006 National Team. He has also worked with the MetroWest Elite-18 travel team and the High Performance Youth National team.

As a standout player he has played in the USVBA national tournament 10 times and finished as high as second in the outdoor-grass nationals, also sponsored by the USVBA, in San Jose, CA.

He and his wife Deb reside in nearby South Grafton, MA with a daughter, Makenzie (2). He also has a daughter Arieanna (15) and son Kenny (12) by previous marriage.

Assumption College competes as an N.C.A.A. Division II institution and is a charter member of the Northeast-10 Conference.