A woman with extensive playing and coaching experience at the highest levels of the game, Ladi Iya was named the University’s head women’s volleyball coach in May, 2008.

Iya was an assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Evansville. She also served as assistant, then as the interim head coach at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. Following her time at Nicholls State, she was an assistant at the University at Buffalo.

At Buffalo, she assisted with on-court coaching at daily practice sessions and analyzed student-athlete performance through the use of a video analysis program. Additionally, she assisted in recruitment of student-athletes and coordinated all team travel.

Iya was active away from the court as well. She was a liaison between the Bulls head coach Jim Lodes and the volleyball student-athletes' academic advisors. She built fan and team support, by establishing a volleyball alumni & friends newsletter for volleyball supporters within the UB network.

In 2004, Iya was named an assistant coach at Nicholls State University which competes on the Division I level in the Southland Conference, where she trained the middle blockers and served as the recruiting coordinator. She also took on the role of NCAA Champs/Life Skills Coordinator, where she assisted in organizing the orientation program for incoming student-athletes. In this role, she also enabled the first student-athlete representative from Nicholls State to attend the 2005 NCAA National Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.

She re-established the Student-Athlete Advisory Council at Nicholls State and facilitated community service opportunities for the student-athletes. Iya assumed the position of interim head coach in the spring of 2005 before moving to the University at Buffalo for the 2005 fall season.

Iya is a 2001 graduate of Evansville with a baccalaureate degree in business administration. She served as the team captain and starting middle blocker for the Purple Aces and is the single-season record holder for blocks at Evansville with 202. Following her collegiate career, Iya was one of 52 athletes selected to compete in the United States Professional Volleyball League (USPV), competing for the Grand Rapids Force in Grand Rapids, MI.

She was also a member of the Nigerian National Volleyball Team. She competed for Nigeria in the 2004 Olympic Qualifier for African Nations.

Iya has worked at a variety of volleyball camps, including five years serving as a coach for the Bob Bertucci Volleyball Summer Camps. She was also the Director of Camp Operations of Summer Volleyball Camps while at the University at Buffalo. In 2007, she began coaching for Niagara Frontier Volleyball Club (NFVB), the largest junior level volleyball club in Western New York State.

She is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Iya is Level I IMPACT Certified by USA Volleyball and is a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy.

Richard joined the Yellowjacket coaching staff in time for the 2009 volleyball season. He served as a men’s assistant volleyball coach at Springfield College from 2007-2009. He was responsible for coordinating team travel, recruitment of student-athletes, budget management, practice and game preparation, fund raising, and team and individual skill development.

He served as an assistant men’s and women’s volleyball coach at Nazareth College from 2005-2007 and as the boys’ club volleyball coach for the Pace Bootlegger club in Rochester at the same time. He has worked a variety of clinics at Nazareth, New York Chiropractic College, and Springfield College.

Richard was a four-year starter for the men’s volleyball team at Springfield (2002-2005). He helped the Pride win the NCAA Division III National Championship twice and he was honored as a First Team All-American. He graduated from Springfield in 2005 with a B.S. in history. He earned his Master of Education degree in Educational Studies from Springfield in May, 2009.