Rutgers University-New Brunswick Volleyball

Caitlin Schweihofer was named the Rutgers head women’s volleyball coach on January 15, 2020 and will enter her seventh season at Rutgers in 2026. In Schweihofer’s first season “On The Banks” in the spring of 2021, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights established themselves as a program on the rise with numerous program and Big Ten firsts. Among the Scarlet Knights’ spring 2021 accomplishments were the first-ever All-Big Ten honoree, first-ever home-opening Big Ten victory, first-ever Big Ten series sweep, set victories over more than one Top 10 program along with the team’s first-ever wins over Indiana and Michigan State. RU established new team, season and match records for aces and reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attack percentage and assists and individual conference superlatives in attack percentage, assists and digs. The second season of the Schweihofer era saw the Scarlet Knights move a majority of its home games to Jersey Mike’s Arena (formerly known as The RAC) playing members of the nation’s top conference in the 8,000-seat arena. Rutgers captured set wins over #8 Purdue and #15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN. The fall of 2022 saw RU 3-0 for the first time since 1998 with four Scarlet Knights named to All-Tournament squads. By the season’s end, Rutgers had 11 entries on the rally-era season leaders list including Megan Vernon who wrapped up her career ranked second in the rally era in solo blocks in only t

Cori Crocker begins her first season at Rutgers coming “To The Banks” with Big Ten experience from both the court and the sideline. Crocker comes to RU after spending the 2024 season as the technical director at Ohio State. During the 2024 campaign, the Buckeyes swept No. 20 Miami to highlight a 7-3 nonconference record, a five-time AVCA All-Region Selection, the 10th overall selection in the PVF Draft and 10 student-athletes named Academic All-Big Ten. Additionally, OSU drew two of the program’s largest-ever attendances in school history. A 2019 graduate of Michigan, Crocker received a degree in psychology and finished her career as the Wolverine’s all-time leader in attack percentage. An AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention and Second Team All-Big Ten selection, she also holds the third-highest single-match hitting percentage in program history. Following graduation, Crocker competed internationally, representing Team USA at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship. She was named Rookie of the Year in the CEV Champions League and was a three-time MVP in the AU Volleyball League.

Randi Smart begins her first season as an assistant coach at Rutgers. Smart comes “To The Banks” with over 20 years of experience across the Division I, II and II levels, totaling 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 52 all-conference selections, 17 AVCA All-Americans, 29 AVCA All-Region honorees, four conference players of the year and a trio of Newcomers of the Year. Smart spent six seasons as head coach at Wake Forest with the Demon Deacons collecting a 36-8 record against nonconference opponents, achieving the highest NCAA RPI ranking in program history at No. 21 in 2023 and capturing back-to-back seasons of 17 or more wins for the first time in over 20 years. Smart mentored four All-ACC freshmen, including 2022 ACC Rookie of the Year Emma Farrell, along with Second Team All-ACC selection Caitlyn Della and 39 Academic All-ACC honorees. In 2022, her squad captured 10 home court victories, the most for the program since 2014, and participated in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship for the Deacs’ first postseason appearance since 1986. Prior to arriving in Winston-Salem, Smart was the head coach at Cal State Los Angeles, where she made six NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. In her first season as head coach, she led the Golden Eagles to a 23-9 overall record and a spot in the NCAA Division II West Region championship match. She compiled a 236-90 overall record along with eight All-Americans, 18 All-CCAA honorees, nine all-region selections and the program’s se