Head coach Joe Sagula finished his 30th season of coaching in 2010 as one of the most prolific winners in college volleyball today. The winningest coach in North Carolina volleyball history, Sagula has been at the helm for five of UNC's ACC crowns and eight of its 12 NCAA appearances.
Additionally, the Tar Heels have gone 421-272 since he joined the program in 1990, a winning percentage over 60 percent. Sagula has achieved this success after coming to Chapel Hill from the University of Pennsylvania where he compiled a 203-123 record in nine seasons, giving him a career mark of 624-385.
In his 30th season overall and 21st at Carolina, Sagula captured his 600th career win (Aug. 28, 2010) and his 400th career victory (Sept. 11, 2010) at North Carolina. The Bronx, N.Y., native is the 17th coach in NCAA Division-I history to compile 600 or more career victories. In conjunction with nearly 70 percent of his career victories coming at North Carolina, the veteran coach became the first coach in ACC history to ever earn 200 or more league wins Oct. 6, 2010 at Wake Forest.
Carolina has won more ACC titles - 11 - than any other program. Sagula has the most ACC wins of any coach in history with 209, and his five ACC titles rank second among any ACC coach.
Along with the five ACC titles, Sagula has guided the Tar Heels to 11 top-three finishes in the league's regular-season standings, including first-place finishes in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2008. In 14 seasons, Sagula led the Tar Heels to six appearances in the ACC championship match and 10 appearances in the ACC Tournament semifinals. The ACC discontinued the conference tournament in 2004, the Tar Heels' last appearance in the championship match. Sagula has also coached five ACC Players of the Year - Amy Peistrup in 1992, Erin Berg in 1998, Laura Greene in 2002, Dani Nyenhuis in 2005 and Kaylie Gibson (Defensive POY) in 2010.
The 2002 Tar Heels won 30 matches (32-4 overall) for the first time since 1985 en route to the program's first appearance in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal. They also took the ACC regular season championship with a 15-1 conference record. The most successful season in the history of the program concluded with Sagula garnering conference and regional coach of the year honors.
During Sagula's tenure at Penn, the Quakers won Ivy League titles in 1983, 1986 and 1989. Sagula was also named the Ivy League Coach of the Year four consecutive seasons.
In addition to his duties with the women's team at Penn, Sagula served as the head men's coach from 1981-89. His record with the men, which competed at both the varsity and club levels, was 111-75 (.597). At the December 2002 meetings of the American Volleyball Coaches Association in New Orleans, Sagula was elected president of the AVCA for a two-year term starting in January 2004.
Sagula chaired the NCAA Division I All-America Committee for four years while at Penn and served four years on the AVCA Board of Directors as the Awards Chairman.
A native of The Bronx, N.Y., Sagula earned his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York, College at New Paltz in 1978. While there he earned three letters in volleyball, captaining the team his senior year. During the summer of 1990, Sagula served as an assistant coach for the USA National Women's Volleyball B Team, which trained in Walnut Creek, Calif. Twice he has coached at the United States Olympic Festival - in 1987 in Chapel Hill as an assistant coach and in 1989 in Oklahoma City as a head coach. In both cases, his teams took home silver medals. Sagula married the former Ingrid Weber in May of 2008.
