Meet AIC’s Women’s Volleyball Coach Eli Irizarry

My volleyball coaching journey began in 2020. I graduated from college in 2019 and started working in sales as a recruiter, but I quickly realized that I missed the sport of volleyball. With my playing career behind me, I began coaching youth volleyball with a friend of mine in Newton, MA. A few months later, COVID hit, and coaching had to be put on hold. That’s when I decided to go back to graduate school and was offered the opportunity to become a Graduate Assistant at Daemen University in Buffalo, NY, for both the men’s and women’s volleyball programs. That’s where my true love for coaching began.

After serving as the Graduate Assistant for two years, I was named the Head Coach of the women’s volleyball program following an incredible season in which the team went undefeated in conference play, won the conference tournament, and became NCAA Regional Champions. During my time as Head Coach at Daemen, we often played against AIC, so I was already familiar with the program. I also went to college at Springfield College, so I knew the area well.

When the opportunity to apply for the head coaching position at AIC opened up, I had recently relocated to Beverly, MA, with my fiancé, and I knew that coaching such a high-level program like AIC women’s volleyball had always been a dream of mine.

Our culture at AIC Women’s Volleyball is centered on “being a great human being.” First and foremost, we want student-athletes who are great humans, great students, great teammates, and who focus on the things that we have 100% control over.

The culture that we continue to build reflects on the court with the support, love, and encouragement that players show each other during practices and matches. To reach our full potential as a team, we must first establish a strong team culture that embodies our core values—relationships, communication, effort, attitude, and dedication—and represents what our program stands for.

The goals for the team on and off the court this year and beyond is to develop student-athletes into great human beings first by focusing on our core values. Every day we come together for training or any team activity, we focus on how each of us can contribute to the team’s success and help one another get 1% better at a time. We want AIC Women’s Volleyball to be known both on and off the court as a team made up of great human beings.

Our fans can expect a high level of volleyball on the court, along with the love and support our players show for one another. We’re excited for every matchup on our schedule and approach each one with the same focus, energy, and intention.

Alumni can stay connected and support us this year by checking the AIC Women’s Volleyball schedule for upcoming matches, following our Instagram account @aicvb, and emailing Head Coach Eli Irizarry at eli.irizarry@aic.edu with any messages for the team.

I look forward to meeting alumni of the program and continuing the tradition of excellence that defines AIC Women’s Volleyball both on and off the court.