Lynchburg, Va. – University of Lynchburg Director of Athletics Jon Waters announced the hiring of Kevin Cardoza as the new head women's volleyball coach on Thursday.
Cardoza joins the Lynchburg women's volleyball program with 14 years of coaching experience, and he spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach for the women's volleyball program at Virginia Tech.
"Coach Cardoza's passion for student success both on and off the court really impressed our staff and students as we have gotten to know him during the interview process," Waters said. "He has experience as a proven recruiter at multiple levels throughout his career which will allow us to continue to build our women's volleyball culture for both the indoor and beach programs".
With the Hokies, Cardoza served as the primary recruiting contact and helped bring in the best recruiting classes in program history including Virginia Tech's first high school All-Americans and seven recruits from the PrepVolleyball top-150.
Prior to his five seasons in Blacksburg, Va, Cardoza made stops at Radford University, The University at Albany, University of Tennessee, University of Maryland, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), and Concordia College. He got his start in coaching at Concordia in 2010 as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator while finishing his undergraduate degree at NYIT. He graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Criminal Justice in 2011.
"I want to thank Director of Athletics, Jon Waters, President Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, and the entire Lynchburg search committee for providing me the opportunity to lead the University of Lynchburg volleyball program," Cardoza said. "The University of Lynchburg is an athletic department with a rich tradition of success, not only in the ODAC but also on a national stage."
During his time as an assistant coach and director of volleyball operations at seven schools, Cardoza served in a primary recruiting role and either implemented new technology to the team such as Data Volley or VolleyMetrics, or helped enhance the team's use of technology and data in game preparation and player development. Working closely with middles and blocking, Cardoza's teams have enjoyed drastic statistical improvements in blocking numbers at nearly every stop. While with NYIT, the team won a conference championship and was ranked as high at No. 1 in Division II. His Albany and Radford teams both had seasons where they led the conference in blocking.
Cardoza has experienced all aspects of running a volleyball program from serving as the acting head coach during conference play in 2022 at Virginia Tech, to building international recruiting networks, serving as an executive camp director for six years, creating practice plans, managing social media, handling team budgets, and overseeing the Joan Cronan Volleyball Center, a multimillion-dollar volleyball-specific facility at University of Tennessee.
"I am eager and excited at the opportunity to help build the volleyball program into a perennial contender," Cardoza said. "My wife and I are extremely excited to be a part of this incredible community, campus, and athletic department."
Cardoza joins the Hornets after the program went .500 in conference play and 11-13 overall in 2023 making a trip to the conference tournament. Lynchburg has been .500 or better in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for the last eight seasons and have produced 16 All-ODAC players in that span. Cardoza will be the ninth head coach in the program's history since 1973.
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