Richard Gary joined the Vassar College men's volleyball program in the summer of 2016. He is set to begin his 10th season at the helm of the Brewers in 2025. He has posted a 180-63 record in nine seasons at Vassar and now ranks as the All-Time Winningest Men's Volleyball Head Coach in Vassar history.
Vassar made yet another appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2025, marking the third straight appearance and fourth in five years after a 22-7 overall record. Vassar saw three players earn All-UVC selections along with Armaan Desai being named AVCA All-Region and earning AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honors. The Brewers tallied eight nationally ranked victories on the season and reached the UVC Semifinals for the fifth straight season.
Gary was named the 2023 AVCA National Coach of the Year, marking just the second time in school history that a Vassar men's volleyball head coach has earned the illustrious award.
Vassar put together the best season in program history in 2023 as the Brewers finished with a 26-2 record while winning 25 straight straight matches for the longest winning streak in school history. The Brewers went undefeated in UVC play and earned the UVC Tournament Championship which gave Vassar its four NCAA Tournament appearance. Vassar hosted the first and quarterfinal rounds of the NCAA Tournament as they swept Baruch before defeating Southern Virginia 3-1 to advance to the NCAA Semifinals. Vassar was tabbed as the #1 in the country in the AVCA National Coaches Poll for the first time in school history as Andrew Kim was the school's first ever AVCA National Player of the Year award recipient. The Brewers had three All-Americans selected as A. Kim, Gavin van Beveren and Jacob Kim were all honored as First Team All-Americans. A. Kim was also named the AVCA North Region Player of the Year and UVC Player of the Year along with van Beveren and J. Kim both being named All-Region. Vassar earned its second straight UVC Rookie of the Year as Tristan Christofferson was named the league's Co-Rookie of the Year.
Vassar posted an 18-6 record in 2022, playing eight nationally ranked teams. The Brewers also reached the UVC Championship semifinals with Andrew Kim and Gavin van Beveren being selected as All-Americans.
The 2021 season saw the Brewers win the UVC Championship for the first time in program history. Vassar received the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and reached the quarterfinals, finishing the season at 9-4. Andrew Kim and Colin Jones were named AVCA All-Americans, and Kim was the AVCA North Region Player of the Year.
In 2020, the Brewers were on their way to one of their best seasons in program history before the year was cut short. Vassar finished the year ranked fourth in the nation while going 16-5 and 6-1 in the UVC. The Brewers had two All-Americans in senior Kevin Ros and first-year Gavin van Beveren. Van Beveren was also named the UVC Rookie of the Year and AVCA North Region Newcomer of the Year.
Gary led the team to one of its most successful seasons in the NCAA era in his first season in 2016. After winning the UVC Conference regular season, including a program record win streak of 16 straight matches, the team stumbled in it’s first conference hosting experience, falling in the semi-finals. For his work in the conference Gary was named 2017 UVC Conference Coach of the Year. However, their season was not over, and they earned a chance to participate for the first time in the NCAA tournament, falling in the Elite 8 to prior year’s national champion SUNY New Paltz.
His second season continued the program’s collection of firsts. After losing the two-time UVC defensive player of the year, Trey Cimorelli, and the rest of the team’s passing unit, Gary leaned heavily on the team’s senior All-Americans Matt Knigge and Zech Lee. Retooling an offense to move Knigge from middle hitter to a 6 rotation attacker, the team struggled early, but rebounded for a 2nd place finish in the conference regular season. After avenging it’s conference loss to SUNY New Paltz the year before, Vassar fell in the finals to conference host and #2 ranked Stevens Tech.
Again, their season was not over after the conference, as Vassar earned its second NCAA bid in a row, earning a chance to host the tournament’s regional round of 16 and Quarterfinals. In a hard fought battle, Vassar defeated #5 seed Kean University to earn it’s first trip to the NCAA semifinals in Carthage Wisconsin. Despite 3 close sets, including one set point opportunity, Vassar fell to the eventual champion Springfield College.
On the individual level, Gary guided six players to All-Conference awards. The combination of Lee and Knigge earned multiple AVCA All-American nods. Knigge became one of the most decorated players in Vassar Men’s Volleyball history, earning AVCA All-American First Team honors three seasons, only the 11th player in Division III history to earn that honor. He was also a two-time UVC Player of the Year, while Lee was also a two-time AVCA All-American Second Team honoree.
Gary came to Vassar after spending the last five years as the head men and women's volleyball coach at Wells College in Aurora, NY. Gary led immense improvement on both the men and women's sides, while also earning North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year honors in 2014. He also saw 70 percent of his athletes earn Dean's List each semester, coaching an CoSIDA Academic All-American as well.
Before Wells, Gary coached with Protos Volleyball Club in Netherlands in 2011, where he helped guide a men's and women's program while assisting the top club team. Gary has also been an assistant coach for the women's volleyball program at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY, where he served seven years for the Hawks.
Gary continues to work in college camps, most recently at Princeton and UCLA, while also having worked with the UVA, Clarkson University, RIT and Stevens Tech. He works with USAV and GEVA to promote boys high performance in the region, taking local teams to the High Performance Championships in 2017 and returning in 2018.
Gary has completed his CAP II coaching certification, and he also is an active member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Men's Volleyball Division III All-American Committee. Gary also has served on the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Regional Advisory Committee.
The Cornish College of the Arts '99 graduate with a BFA in Playwriting and Acting also earned a Master of Arts in Greek Mythology from the University of Bristol in 2001.
