Conroy Accepts Position at Andrews Recreation & Wellness Center
Youngstown, Ohio -- After 13 seasons as Youngstown State University's Head Volleyball Coach and 20 years within the Athletics Department, Joe Conroy has accepted the position of Coordinator of Facilities and Programs at YSU's Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced on Wednesday.
"Coach Conroy represented YSU athletics in a first-class manner on the court and in the community," Strollo said. "His commitment to his student-athletes and YSU is unmatched. While he will be sadly missed in athletics, we are pleased that he is remaining at Youngstown State University and happy he has this new opportunity ahead."
Conroy, who finishes with a 13-year record of 188-210, guided the Penguins to four 20-win seasons, one Mid-Continent Conference Championship and one Mid-Continent Conference East Division title.
"This was a difficult decision for me to make, but in order to spend more time with my family I feel this is the right time to make this change in my career," Conroy said. "The volleyball program and the current and former players hold a special place in my heart and always will."
During his tenure, eight of Conroy's former standouts eclipsed the 1,000-career kills plateau, including 2003 seniors Colleen Royer and Annie Buschur. Royer ended her career ranked sixth all-time with 1,045 career kills while Buschur is eighth all-time with 1,005 kills and second all-time with 477 career blocks.
In 2001, Conroy guided the Penguins in their first season of competition in the highly-competitive Horizon League, which finished the 2001 campaign with the 12th-highest conference Ranked Percentage Index (RPI) in the nation. At the end of the 2003 campaign, the Horizon League had the eighth-highest conference RPI in the country.
Also in 2001, two of Conroy's charges reached the 1,000-career kill milestone. Former Penguins Rebecca Sylak and Kristen Meech became the fifth and sixth players in YSU history to record at least 1,000 career kills.
Meech, who was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 2001, was also named third-team Verizon Academic All-American. She was the first YSU volleyball player to garner such an award.
From 1994-2000, at least one of Conroy's players was named first-team all-conference when Rebecca Sylak garnered all-league honors from the coaches. In all, Conroy has coached nine first-team all-conference selections, eight second-team picks, a player of the year and a newcomer of the year.
Conroy was awarded the Mid-Continent Conference's Coach-of-the-Year Award for the fourth time after leading the Penguins to a 13-1 conference mark in 1999, including the first league win over national power Oral Roberts. The win snapped ORU's 29 conference match winning streak. He also won the award in 1998, 1995 and 1994. In 1998, the Penguins completed the season with a 20-12 overall record, their first 20-win season since 1995, and won 19 of their last 24 matches. In 1994 and 1995, Conroy led the Penguins to two straight 20-win seasons; the first time in the school's volleyball history that feat had been accomplished.
A national search for Conroy's replacement will begin immediately.
