This page is dedicated to the men/women that have played volleyball with us... then went elsewhere and rocked it on or off the court.  Share your photos and stories with us from the Contacts Page.

Braden visited Ryan Gym on an open volleyball night and fell in love with the sport.  He was just named as Head Coach at the South Sioux High School, Sioux City, IA, where he is also a math teacher. 

Braden played for the Morningside College Mustangs where he was also the Assistant Coach for the women's program. Braden is now the Head Coach for the South Sioux City High School girls volleyball program.

Ryan grew up playing volleyball in Fairbanks with his family until he played collegiate volleyball at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH.  He is currently working for Raytheon as a Systems Engineer and playing volleyball almost every weekend.  

Torie grew up playing volleyball at FVA, Arctic Volleyball Club, and West Valley.  She played collegiately for Western New England University in Springfield, MA.  Torie was the Assistant Coach for the Lehman College Men's Program in New York, the Women's Program at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, and at her Alma Mater.  She is currently the Head Coach for both the men's and women's programs at Elms College in Chicopee, MA.

Sovanny Kon was named the 9th head coach in Rutgers-Newark women's volleyball history on Monday, March 27, 2023. Kon joins the Scarlet Raiders from Division III Sarah Lawrence College. 

"It's amazing to be here," said Sovanny Kon. "I want to thank Mark Griffin and Dr. Corlisse Thomas and the rest of the hiring committee for this opportunity. I want to build this team to my vision and my vision is a team that supports each other and comes in every day looking to get better."

Kon has spent the last two seasons as the head coach for the Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence as head coach for both the men's team and the women's team. On the men's side, Kon guided the team to its most wins since joining the Skyline Conference in 2014-15. In 2019, Kon led the women's volleyball team to double-digit wins (13), tying the record for most wins in a season upon transitioning to NCAA Division III status. Under Kon, SLC set team records for digs and total blocks. In addition, Kon coached Melanie Coleman to Second Team Skyline All-Conference accolades. 

"We're excited to bring Sovanny to the Rutgers-Newark family," said Athletic Director Mark Griffin. "Her proven success at both of her last stops will help elevate the women's volleyball program."

Before coaching at Sarah Lawrence, Kon was the head coach for Lehman College men's and women's teams. At Lehman, she led the team to the CUNYAC Semifinals in back-to-back years after posting a 15-win season. 

A native of North Pole, Alaska, Kon was a four-year standout player and two-year team captain playing volleyball at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A 1995 graduate, Kon holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Economics and Business Administration.

Joe Ulrich came to the FVA by way of the US Army and Fort Wainwright.  While playing in our Spring League in 2018, he was chosen to play on the All-Army volleyball team. 

While there, Joe was selected to play on the 2018 U.S. Armed Forces Men's Volleyball Team selected from elite U.S. military volleyball players from around the world who competed for dominance to determine the best of the best at the 2018 Armed Forces Volleyball Championship. Army, Navy (with Coast Guard) and Air Force teams squared off at the annual AFVC through three days of round-robin competition, to eventually crown the best men and women volleyball players in the military.