BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College Director of Athletics Michael McDonough announced on Monday the appointment of Scott Fitzgerald as the new head coach for both the College’s men’s and women’s volleyball programs.
Fitzgerald becomes the ninth head coach of SVC’s women’s team and the eighth for the men’s squad.
“Scott brings a unique set of qualities to the position of head men's and women's coach,” said McDonough. “He is a player of exceptional skills and knowledge, he has coached the women's game, and he is part of the SVC athletic family. We feel he is the right person to maintain and advance our volleyball programs.”
Nearing completion of his bachelor’s coursework in SVC’s psychology program, Fitzgerald takes the reigns after finishing his collegiate athletic eligibility with this past spring season. He was a two-year member of the Mountaineers’ men’s team after transferring to Southern Vermont from The Sage Colleges for the 2013-14 academic term.
While this is his first head coaching post at the collegiate level, leading teams on and off the court is nothing new to Fitzgerald. For six seasons prior to enrolling at Sage, he was an assistant coach for the women’s team at Adirondack Community College in his hometown of Queensbury, N.Y. He was named one of the Southern Vermont captains for the 2015 season, helping guide the crew to the most wins and first above-.500 record in program history (16-11); that mark saw the Mountaineers make it to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) playoffs for the fifth straight season and get invited to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III tournament for the first time in team history.
“I am very happy to take over the women's and men's volleyball programs at SVC,” commented Fitzgerald. “I feel honored that I have the opportunity to pass on what was taught to me both on the court and in the classroom.”
Fitzgerald made his mark on SVC Volleyball after just the two years in a Mountaineer uniform, being proficient at landing both kills and service aces. In that time, he climbed up to rank fourth for Southern Vermont in all-time kills (452) while ripping across the third-most service aces in team history (67). Fitzgerald also owns the top and fifth-best single season aces marks with 39 in 2014 and 28 in 2015. He was named an All-NECC Honorable Mention in 2015 after being the Conference’s Player of the Week three times throughout the season, collecting an additional NECC Player of the Week nod during his junior year in 2014.
“I look forward to the challenges of being a first-year head coach,” Fitzgerald added. “I know that each student-athlete will not only learn from my experiences but also teach me at the same time. In the next few years, I hope to bring in some talented student-athletes to join those who are already here excelling both on the court and in classroom.”
While being a standout player, Fitzgerald also excelled in the classroom during his own time as a student-athlete. He worked his way to collecting NECC Spring Academic All-Conference laurels after both the 2015 and 2014 spring semesters, being named Southern Vermont’s 2015 Mountaineer Male Scholar Athlete of the Year this past April. He was also named to the 2012 Skyline Conference Spring-Winter Scholar-Athlete Team while at Sage.
Fitzgerald and the SVC women’s squad is getting close to beginning its preseason training, preparing for the 2015 fall campaign that is set to start at Morrisville State College on Tuesday, September 1.