POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Vassar College Head Women's Volleyball Coach Jonathan Penn has announced that he will be retiring from coaching at the end of this academic year following a 28-year career at the helm of the Brewers.
 
"It has been my privilege and great joy to coach and teach at Vassar for the past 28 years," stated Coach Penn. "I have been fortunate to work with an amazing array of colleagues and administrators over the years and I deeply appreciate all of their guidance, friendship and support. Vassar Athletics is a unique and special place that has provided meaningful context for what has been, for me, a labor of passion and pride, and I am grateful."
 
Penn retires from Vassar as the winningest head coach in program history as he has accumulated 574 total victories as both the men's and women's head coach, while coaching over 40-plus combined seasons and a total of 1,060 matches. Penn coached both the men's and women's team beginning in 1996 and was at the helm of the men's program until 2011.
 
During his tenure as the women's head coach, Penn finished with 416 career wins, including achieving his 400th victory against Mount Saint Mary in the 2023 season. Penn mentored 57 All-UCAA and All-Liberty League selections and also had three conference Players of the Year along with three Liberty League Rookies of the Year. He was also named to the UCAA and Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year four times (2001, 2002, 2005, 2016).
 
Penn coached 10 NCAA/AVCA All-Region honorees while mentoring four AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selections. He also mentored the AVCA Region Freshman of the Year in Jane McLeod '20 along with the AVCA Region Player of the Year and AVCA Second Team All-American selection in Devan Gallagher '19.
 
The Brewers earned six NCAA Tournament bids in his tenure and twice advanced to the Second Round. Vassar also reeled off six straight conference championships from 2001-2006 and tallied eight trips to the NYS Championships while earning two fourth place finishes. Penn also saw the Brewers earn four ECAC Championship bids and earned the top spot in the NCAA Regional Rankings in 2017.
 
Penn also saw his teams excel in the classroom as Gallagher was named a Third Team Academic All-American while three earned Academic All-American District One First Team honors. In total, 101 student-athletes were named to the UCAA and Liberty League All-Academic teams and 18 squads earned the AVCA Team Academic Award. The past four seasons saw the teams named to the Honor Roll, celebrating the top 20% of GPAs in their division.
 
"It is such a pleasure to work with student-athletes that are so committed to both their studies and their sport", said Coach Penn. "It has always been incredibly impressive and so interesting and fun to be around. It is the time spent with them that I will miss most."
 
In his tenure as the men's head coach, Penn earned 158 wins and saw two teams advance to the Molten Division III Final Four National Championship in 2001 and 2008. He mentored three NECVA First Team selections along with eight All-EIVA honorees.
 
Penn also mentored seven AVCA All-American selections in addition to the Metro and NECVA Player of the Year in Phil Tully '08. Scott Leserman '09 was awarded as the digs per set NCAA statistical champion in 2008 when the Brewers advanced to the National Semifinals. The Brewers were also ranked in the top-15 continually from 1997-2005 and reached as high as second in 2008.
 
In the classroom, Penn saw two Academic All-Americans in Dave Paine in 2002 and Steve Gilhool in 2005 while 13 student-athletes garnered EIVA All-Academic team status. Vassar was awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award four times with him as head coach and was the first ever Division III men's program to earn the illustrious honor.
 
Penn was honored as a two-time Metro Division Coach of the Year, NECVA Coach of the Year and was the school's first ever AVCA National Division III Coach of the Year in 2008.
 
During the 2002-2003 seasons, Vassar saw both the men's and women's teams earn bids in the NCAA Tournament under Penn's tutelage and the Brewers were the only institution in the nation to have both teams earn the AVCA Academic Team award during the 2004-2005 seasons.
 
"My deepest gratitude lies with the truly remarkable student-athletes that provided the core and purpose of my time here." said Penn. "It is those wonderful men and women, their dedication and generosity of spirit, that made anything I have accomplished possible. My career is theirs and I hope I was able to give something to them in return. The wins, awards and accolades, as nice as they are, mean little in the light of the connections made and relationships grown. Those are what define my career and, hopefully, my legacy, and what I will always cherish", stated Penn.
 
In the Vassar athletic department honors, Penn saw three Matthew Vassar Outstanding Career Women's award winners while three men's student-athletes were named the Male Athlete of the Year. He also mentored three total Betty Richey Performer of the Year honorees and two Rookie of the Year recipients.
 
Penn also served on multiple regional and national committees, sitting on the NCAA Regional committee twice and the NCAA National committee once. Penn also served twice on the AVCA DIII Head Coaches committee as well as the All-America committee.
 
"I can't ever give up coaching or volleyball completely, and look forward to following the futures of both teams at Vassar, as well as continuing to work with both players and coaches in Hudson Valley club volleyball. The sport has given me so much, I need to keep giving back. And I still love it."
 
Active with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and NYWSCAA, Penn arrived at Vassar from Santa Monica (Calif.) College where he began coaching in 1989. At Santa Monica, he served two years as the women's assistant coach, three as the women's associate coach. In addition, he was the men's assistant coach for three years and the head coach for three seasons.
 
While completing a bachelor's degree in English from UCLA in 1990 and a master's degree in Education at California State University at Hayward in 1993, Penn worked with various youth and adult programs in the greater Los Angeles area. He also served as a counselor at numerous volleyball camps and has coached multiple teams overseas, working with USAAi in Scotland, Costa Rica, Italy and the Netherlands.
 
As a scholarship player at Penn State, Penn won championships on Junior Olympic squads and later competed in the Olympic Festival. In 2003-05, he coached the men's Hudson Valley Open Division team in New York's Empire State Games, also playing in the masters Division for five years,  earning three bronze medals.