 Orlando Gonzalez enters his third season leading the Rutgers volleyball program, and his second as the permanent head coach, after serving in an interim role during the 2005 season.
Last year Gonzalez led Rutgers to a 3-2 start but the Scarlet Knights were unable to keep up their early season pace and ended the year with a 5-20 mark. However, the Knights did pick up conference victories over DePaul and West Virginia.
During his first season at the helm of the Scarlet Knights, Gonzalez led RU to an 11-16 overall record and a 6-8 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. Rutgers finished 10th in the conference standings, just two spots shy of qualification for the BIG EAST Tournament.
Gonzalez also helped guide then-junior outside hitter Lora Yankauskas to a second-team all-BIG EAST selection in 2005, the second conference honor of her career (honorable mention, 2004).
Prior to Rutgers, Gonzalez served as the regional training center head coach and assistant director for USA Michigan Volleyball, where he guided the Runbird Elite 18U and 17U club teams. In 1998 and 2003, his 18U team won the gold medal at the East Coast Championships, hosted by Penn State. In back-to-back seasons (2002, 2003), he coached the only statewide team to qualify for the USAV Junior National Tournament in the 18-and-under age group. Over the course of his 11 years involved with the elite club, Gonzalez trained and developed 45 athletes who went on to earn scholarships to Division I schools and numerous others who played for Division II, III and NAIA programs.
On the collegiate level, Gonzalez served one year as an assistant coach at Northwood University in Midland, Mich., where he was specifically responsible for drill instruction and defensive development. Prior to Northwood, Gonzalez was an assistant coach for two seasons at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and was the head equipment manager/home match coordinator at Western Michigan University in 1993. He also had two stints as a head coach on the scholastic level, beginning the first varsity program at Dakota High School in Macomb, Mich., and molding the team into a conference champion by its third year (1998). In 1995, he guided Marian High School in Birmingham, Mich., to the district title, regional final and a top-five ranking in the state.
Gonzalez is a three-time speaker at the annual Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) Coaches Clinic (1999, 2001, 2002), and was twice the keynote volleyball speaker at the MAHPERD Clinic (2000, 2001). He was a guest apprentice coach for the NEC Professional Team (Tokyo, Japan) in 2002.
Gonzalez earned his bachelor’s degree in communications and advertising from Michigan State in 2003. He is certified Cap Level 1 with USA Volleyball. |
