Joe Rich

UC Davis Athletics

Title

Head Coach
Alma Mater

Purdue University
Year

1st Season
Email

jjrich@ucdavis.edu

Joe Rich enters UC Davis in his first season as head coach. He holds the title as the third coach in Women’s Beach Volleyball history. Rich comes to UC Davis with over 25 years of coaching experience. He previously served as the assistant coach at CalPoly for two seasons where he led the team to great success.

Rich is no stranger to the ranks of D1 Beach Volleyball. He began his D1 coaching career as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University. During his four seasons at GCU he he garnered a 43-29 record and helped the Lopes to maintain a spot in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Coaches Poll. He helped lead them to four straight seasons in the AVCA top 20 including two years in the top 8.

After his success at GCU Rich took his talents to Cal Poly as an assistant coach. During his time with the Mustangs in their 2022 campaign, he helped guide the team to a Big West Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. That season they also achieved national rankings securing the #13 spot through his guidance.

He reached success not only in his professional career but in his personal as well. He moved from the hardwood to the sand in 1996 and played in various professional leagues and qualifiers including AVP, EVP, MVPVA, and Cuervo Series. Before that, he played on the All-Marine volleyball team from 1991-95, where he was selected to the All-National Military team.

Coach Rich hails from Wheaton, IL. He received his degree in Liberal Arts History and English from his Alma Mater Purdue University.