Josh Stokes returns to SVC for his third year as the head coach for both the men’s and women’s volleyball programs.  In January of 2012, he was also named the Assistant Director of Athletics for Mountaineers Athletics.  As the women’s coach, Stokes currently holds the highest winning percentage in the history of SVC coaches. 

Coach Stokes has seen success and improvements on both the men’s and women’s sides in his short tenure at Southern Vermont. The men’s team finished the 2012 season with a 12-19 mark, more wins than the program had seen in its first six years combined (11). 

In 2011, the women’s squad captured its first conference title, winning the NECC Championship and moving on into the NCAA tournament.  The team finished with a program-best 31-3, including its first-ever win over Williams College. The Mountaineers then repeated in 2012 and took a set off Middlebury College in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Stokes was named the NECC Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Stokes’ prior coaching experience is extensive, spanning from high schools to colleges and across the nation.  Most recently, he assisted the women’s team at the State University of New York at Potsdam under head coach Steve Pike from ’09-’10.  Prior to that, he was a women’s assistant coach at Clarkson University in New York (’07-’08) while also helping head coach Johan Dulfer as a top court coach at the Clarkson Nike Volleyball Skills Camp. 

Stokes’ last high school position was as an assistant girls’ varsity coach at Twentynine Palms High School (Calif.) from 2006-07.  There, he helped lead the team to the California Interscholastic Federation Division 4 semi-final match.  Stokes was an assistant women’s coach for the 2006 season at North Iowa Area Community College, and he headed the women’s club volleyball squad at Princeton University from ’03-’04.  In ’02-’03, Stokes took his knowledge to New Jersey where he led the girls’ varsity and junior varsity programs at Indian Hills High School in Franklin.  He also was the head coach of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s club volleyball team (’01-’02), a squad that was ranked #1 nationally for four weeks and finished #10 following the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association National Championship.  Prior to that, he served as the head girls’ JV and assistant varsity coach at Coast Union High School in Cambia, Calif. From ’99-’02.  In 2001, the team reached the California state playoffs.  From ’98-’00, he was the head boys’ and girls’ JV and assistant varsity coach at Morro Bay High School in Morro Bay, Calif.  Stokes was a volunteer and statistician for women’s volleyball at Cuesta College in ’98-’99 and helped out with the Cuesta College Volleyball Individual Skills Camp during that time.

Coach Stokes received his Master of Science in Education degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam in 2009 with a focus of Organizational Leadership and Management.  He graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 2004 with a B.A. in Psychology.  While at Ramapo, Stokes was a setter for the Roadrunners who were the 2003 ECAC Champions and 2004 ECAC Runner-up.  In two seasons, he recorded 1,200 assists, 200+ kills and digs, 75 blocks, and made the All-Academic 2nd Team twice.

• 2012: NECC Women's Regular Season & Tournament Champions
• 2012: NECC Women's Coach of the Year
• 2012: Most wins in a men’s season (12)
• 2011: Most wins in a women’s season (31)
• 2011: NECC Women’s Regular Season & Tournament Champions
• 2011: Women’s NCAA Tournament Appearance
• 2011: NECC Women’s Coach of the Year

For more information on the Southern Vermont men’s or women’s volleyball programs, please contact Coach Stokes at jstokes@svc.edu or 802-447-4658.