KINGSTON, R.I. – Ryan Sullivan has been named as the head coach of the Rhode Island women's volleyball program, Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn announced Monday.
Sullivan comes to Rhode Island after spending the last three seasons as a member of the University of New Hampshire staff. He was the Wildcats' associate head coach in 2023 after spending the previous two years as the program's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
"We are very excited to welcome Ryan Sullivan to the URI athletics family," Bjorn said. "He comes to us after having helped turn New Hampshire into an incredibly successful program. He is a wonderful tactician and recruiter. His enthusiasm and passion for the sport of volleyball is contagious. I am really looking forward to partnering with Ryan to rebuild the URI volleyball program."
Sullivan is the sixth head coach in Rhode Island history. Before he joined Christopher Feliciano's staff at UNH, he spent time with three Power Five programs, coaching at Indiana, Northwestern and Mississippi State. He also was the associate head coach at Jacksonville while simultaneously serving as the Dolphins' beach volleyball head coach.
During his time at Jacksonville, Sullivan helped the Dolphins indoor team finish second in the ASUN in 2017 with an RPI of 129. Libero Mackenzie Swan earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, and the Dolphins led the ASUN with 16.94 digs per set. The Jacksonville beach team also qualified for the ASUN championships.
"I am honored and humbled to join the Ram Fam as the head volleyball coach at the University of Rhode Island," Sullivan said. "I'd like to thank Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn, Associate Athletic Director Brittney Miles and the entire search committee for selecting me to this prestigious position. I look forward to working with these talented and dedicated student-athletes on and off the court. Go Rhody!"
During his three seasons at UNH, the Wildcats were 53-31, including a 20-12 mark in America East play. In 2023, New Hampshire finished second in the America East, closing out the regular season on a seven-match winning streak. The program reached at least the conference semifinals in all three seasons Sullivan was with the Wildcats, including a run to the championship finals in 2022. Last season, New Hampshire had an RPI of 113, the highest for the program since 2003.
"I owe a great deal of gratitude to UNH head coach Christopher Feliciano and all the past and present Wildcat players I had the privilege to work with the past three years. I wish them nothing but success going forward."
Sullivan's other coaching experience includes head coach at Louisburg College and assistant coach at Villanova University. In 2015, Villanova led the Big East in opponent hitting percentage, appeared in the Big East championship match and he helped guide the team to a NCAA tournament at-large berth. The Wildcats finished 39th in the RPI and boasted two All-East region players. Villanova had five wins against Top 75 RPI teams in 2015, which included victories against Creighton, Marquette, Xavier (2) and James Madison.
