Rhonda Woodward enters her third season with Seahawks volleyball, bringing over 20 years of head coaching experience to the program.
Woodward brings extensive playing and coaching experience to the team, including two years on the United States National Team, which competed in the 1976 Olympics. The 1976 squad played in the World Cup Games in Tokyo, the World University Games in Bulgaria, the Canadian Cup, the NORCECA Zonal Championships in the Dominican Republic, and an exhibition tournament at Madison Square Garden against Puerto Rico and West Germany. The team was coached by renowned coach Arie Selinger.
A four-sport star at Maine-Endwell High School in New York (volleyball, softball, basketball and tennis), before Woodward played four years of volleyball at State University of New York at Cortland, where she was a three-year captain. Her team won the Eastern Regionals and competed for the AIAW National Championship. During two of those years, she also was a member of the USA East National Volleyball Team, and captained the squad her second season. She graduated from SUNY-Cortland with a Bachelor's degree in 1976.
After her two years as a member of the National Team, Woodward worked in the Houston area, while serving as a volunteer assistant for the University of Houston. In 1983 and 1984, Woodward accepted an offer to play professionally in Italy, joining the Italian Volleyball Federation.
Upon returning to the United States, Rhonda accepted assistant coaching positions at Ithaca College (1986), Colorado State University (1987), and the University of Georgia (1988).
In 1989, Woodward was offered her first head coaching position, taking over the program at Indiana State University. In her first season at the helm, ISU posted their best season in seven years. During her six seasons with the Sycamores, Woodward notched a 78-103 record.
A native of Endicott, New York, Woodward has remained active in the junior club level, serving as a head coach of various club teams for the last ten years.
