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Garvey Pierre begins his seventh season as the head volleyball coach at Siena after becoming the program's initial full-time coach in April of 2003. He has reenergized the Saints' program with stellar recruiting and bold vision. In just his third year, he guided the upstart Saints to the MAAC Championship in 2005 and the second NCAA appearance in program history, a feat the team repeated each of the last three seasons. Pierre has Siena gunning for a fifth consecutive conference title after resurrecting a program that tied for last in the league in 2004. His five recruiting classes have been among the most decorated in program history. Senior middle blocker Burgandy McCurty was the 2006 MAAC Rookie of the Year and the 2007 and 2008 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year. She finished the season ranked fifth nationally with a school record 4.71 kills/set as a junior and is the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season. Recent graduates set the stage for the program's current success. April London' 09 was a CoSIDA District 1 First Team Academic All-America selection, the 2005 MAAC Rookie of the Year, the 2008 MAAC Setter of the Year and graduated as the school's all-time assist leader (5,356). London and classmate Kathi Kobayashi - the program's all-time leader in digs - won MAAC Championships in all four of their years with the program. Nadiege Honore '08 was the first major recruit to commit to Pierre. She finished her career second on the school's all-time kills charts with 1,461 career kills. The last four seasons have also marked the first years that Pierre coached a team consisting of primarily his own recruits and the results have been dramatic. Thanks to national, and in some cases international recruiting, the Saints have posted four straight 20-win seasons and made four straight NCAA appearances. In 2005, Siena captured its fourth MAAC title, and first since 1996, despite being picked ninth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and last by every coach except Pierre (who picked the Saints first). Pierre's Saints reeled off seven straight wins to end the regular-season and earn a spot in the MAAC Championships. The squad carried the momentum into the conference Tournament, where they knocked off Iona in the semifinals and upset top-seed Fairfield in the Championship Match. The win assured the Saints their second NCAA berth in program history where they lost to eventual National Champion Washington in the First Round in Fort Collins, Colo. The Saints repeated their magical ride to the NCAA's in 2006, capturing the league championship at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. After entering the Tournament as the #2 seed, Siena knocked off Saint Peter's and Canisius in its first two matches, setting up a Championship rematch with Fairfield. Pierre again guided Siena to the upset, and with it the program's sixth MAAC Championship and third NCAA berth. Siena advanced to play Minnesota in the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Albany. In 2007, Siena once more ousted rival Fairfield in a classic MAAC Championship match televised on ESPNU that went the distance. The Saints tied with the Stags during the regular-season, posting a 17-1 league record. After capturing their third straight MAAC title, Siena advanced to play eventual National Champion Penn State in the NCAA First Round. Last year, the Saints seniors completed their perfect careers with a championship they got to celebrate on their home court. Once more, Siena topped Fairfield on national television in the final, this time doing so in straight sets. It was the 100th career victory for Pierre at Siena. The Saints went on to play California in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Berkeley. This type of success is nothing new for Pierre. Prior to being named Siena's head coach, Pierre led the volleyball program at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. While at Mercy, Pierre compiled a winning percentage in excess of 75%, which placed him seventh among active Division II coaches with at least five years of experience upon his resignation. Pierre's teams gained three conference championships, and a number one ranking in the Northeast Region in 2000 (33-2 record) and 2001 (34-2 record). He was named conference Coach of the Year four times and Northeast Region Coach of the Year twice. In 2001 Pierre led Mercy to the final eight in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, his teams held the best grade point average among all teams in the Mercy athletic department for seven straight years. Pierre is a graduate of Quebec University (BA) and Mercy (BS). He was a technical adviser for his native Haiti's men's national team in 1994 and was an assistant coach for Haiti's women's national team in 1996 for the Norceca Games (pre-Olympics). Pierre was also a participant in the 1992 Norceca Games. Pierre resides in the Capital Region. |
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