Lynchburg Volleyball Coaches Unite to Sponsor Three Separate Programs

Assistant coach Thomas Chandler practices with the beach volleyball squad on its home court at the University of Lynchburg.

Throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, four coaches have collaborated to jointly assist with the University of Lynchburg’s three volleyball programs.

Last year, Lynchburg’s athletic department welcomed the creation of a men’s volleyball program, just one year removed from the inaugural beach volleyball campaign for the Hornets. Though different individuals carry head coaching responsibilities for each program, the committee of Kevin Cardoza, Ryan Turner, Ryan Chandler and Nathan Moore remains dedicated to sharing time with each team.

“It’s not good enough if the women’s program has success and no one else has success,” said director of women’s volleyball Kevin Cardoza. “We want to make sure that all 60 of our student-athletes are getting a championship experience, on and off the court.”

Lynchburg’s coaches not only strive to advocate equal time among the teams, but as assistant coach Thomas Chandler states, each sport requires different tactics and mindsets.

“Indoor has six people on the court at a time; beach has two people,” said Chandler. “In beach, you don’t get as much time to think about what you’re doing. You just have to do it.”

Despite the coaching prowess, however, the staff’s teamwork is continually cited as the factor that allowed the opening season to prosper.

“No one here has an ego, and no one here thinks that they know more.” Coach Cardoza said.

While the women’s indoor volleyball team returned to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017, the squad’s success translated to other programs’ portfolios. 

“It’s very special to have all the guys [coaches] here,” said indoor and beach volleyball athlete Kailey Keough. “Each of them gives different perspectives to indoor and beach, and it’s really nice because they all know different things.”

For additional information regarding the volleyball programs’ upcoming schedules, visit www.lynchburgsports.com. 

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Sources:

Kevin Cardoza (Director of Women’s Volleyball): cardoza_k@lynchburg.edu

Thomas Chandler: (Volleyball Assistant Coach): chandler_t@lynchburg.edu

Kailey Keough (Student-Athlete): keoughk992@lynchburg.edu