Sagula By The Numbers:
» Career Record: 865-507 (.630) in 42 seasons
» Record at UNC: 662-384 (.633) in 33 seasons
» Four-time AVCA Regional Coach of the Year (1998, 2001, 2002, 2016)
» Five-time ACC Coach of the Year (1999, 2002, 2005, 2014, 2016)
» Four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year
» 11 conference titles (7 ACC, 4 Ivy League)
» 6 conference tournament titles (3 ACC, 3 Ivy League)
» 15 NCAA Tournament appearances

Joe Sagula, one of the most successful coaches in college volleyball, completed his 33rd season at Carolina in 2022. UNC’s winningest volleyball coach in history, Sagula has won seven ACC championships and led UNC to 15 of its 19 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Sagula announced his retirement on January 9th, 2023.

The Tar Heels went 662-384 under Sagula, a .633 winning percentage. Sagula is 865-507 (.630) over a total of 42 years as a Division I head coach, with 11 regular-season and six conference tournament titles. Sagula has the most ACC wins of any coach in history with 364, and his seven ACC titles ties for the most all time among the league’s coaches.

Inducted into the NC Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2020, Sagula directed the Tar Heels to 14 top-three finishes in the league’s regular-season standings, including first-place finishes in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2014 and 2016. In the 14 seasons in which the ACC held a postseason tournament, Sagula led the Tar Heels to six appearances in the ACC championship match and reached the semifinals 10 times.

Sagula has coached five ACC Players of the Year - Amy Peistrup (1992), Erin Berg (1998), Laura Greene (2002), Dani Nyenhuis (2005) and Taylor Leath (2016) - two ACC Defensive Players of the Year - Kaylie Gibson (2010) and Ece Taner (2014) - and four ACC Freshmen of the Year in Cameron Van Noy (2011), Paige Neuenfeldt (2012), Julia Scoles (2016) and Mabrey Shaffmaster (2021).

The Tar Heels dominated at the service line in 2022, leading the ACC in aces per set (1.84) and ranked 19th nationally. Mabrey Shaffmaster (first-team) and Charley Niego (second-team) earned All-ACC honors, while Anita Babic and Liv Mogridge each were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team. North Carolina finished the season with a 17-12 record, going 9-9 in ACC play.

After a shortened 2020-21 season where the Tar Heels posted a 10-8 record, going 9-7 in ACC play, Carolina returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 in 2021. Mabrey Shaffmaster was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-Region Freshman of the Year, while Nia Parker-Robinson earned AVCA All- Region Honors. Kaya Merkler and Shaffmaster each earned AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention nods.

Building on the success in late 2018 when the Tar Heels won three of their final five matches, Sagula led Carolina to its first winning season in three years in 2019. The Tar Heels ranked 16th nationally and second in the ACC in blocks per set with 2.68.

In 2017, the Tar Heels led the ACC and finished 15th in the nation with 2.82 blocks per set with double-digit blocks in 20 of the 28 matches throughout the season. UNC closed out the 2017 home season on a 26-match ACC home winning streak. The Tar Heels placed two on the All-ACC teams, led by Beth Nordhorn on the first team while also picking up AVCA All-Region honors.

The 2016 Tar Heels achieved new heights under Sagula's leadership, receiving their highest AVCA (6) and RPI (5) rankings in program history, winning their 13th ACC title and advancing to NCAA Regionals for the third time, while taking down a program-record three top-10 teams during the season. Carolina went an unprecedented 19-1 in ACC play and captured three individual conference honors. Taylor Leath became UNC's fourth AVCA All-American after winning ACC Player of the Year, while Julia Scoles won ACC and AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year, and Sagula took home ACC and AVCA Regional Coach of the Year honors.

In 2015, Sagula guided UNC to its biggest regular-season victory in program history, a 3-0 sweep of No. 3 Stanford, to mark the second straight season with a win over a top-three opponent. UNC put together a 12-match winning streak to finish tied for second in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Paige Neuenfeldt earned Third-Team All-America honors, becoming the third AVCA All-American in program history, while becoming the first-ever Tar Heel to garner Academic All-America honors.

Sagula led the 2014 Tar Heels to a 29-3 record, including a perfect 16-0 home record, en route to his fourth career ACC Coach of the Year award. UNC achieved a series of program bests during the season, including a No. 7 AVCA Coaches Poll ranking, a No. 5 NCAA RPI ranking and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. UNC ran off a record 20-straight victories, the longest streak in program history. The season ended for the Tar Heels in the NCAA Regional Finals in Minneapolis, the first time Carolina volleyball had ever reached the Elite Eight. Chaniel Nelson became the second AVCA All-American with a Second Team honor in 2014, and joined Victoria McPherson, Ece Taner and Paige Neuenfeldt on the AVCA All-Region team.

In 2013, the Tar Heels opened the season with a 15-game win streak, the best start in program history. Carolina finished 27-5, recording the most wins in a season since 2002, and grabbed a No. 25 final AVCA ranking for the first time since that same season. UNC was ranked in the top 25 in each of the season’s weekly AVCA Coaches Polls and peaked at No. 10 for the program’s highest-ever ranking to that point. Jovana Bjelica and Neuenfeldt earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mentions and AVCA All-Region awards.

In 2012, Sagula led the Tar Heels to an undefeated home record (15-0) and the school’s 14th NCAA appearance. UNC finished 26-6 and earned two AVCA All-America Honorable Mentions (Emily McGee and Neuenfeldt), with Neuenfeldt earning ACC and AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year honors.

Sagula captured his 600th overall win and 400th win at Carolina in 2010.The Bronx, N.Y., native became the first coach in ACC history to earn 200 league wins on Oct. 6, 2010, at Wake Forest.

In 2002, the Tar Heels won 30 matches (32-4 overall) for the first time since 1985 en route to the program’s first appearance in an NCAA Regional Semifinal. They also won the ACC regular-season championship with a 15-1 conference record.

From 1998-2002, Sagula led UNC to a 139-35 (.799) record with two regular-season and three ACC Tournament titles, as well as five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances culminating in UNC's the first-ever NCAA Regionals in 2002. Sagula was named AVCA East Region Coach of the Year in three of those five years as well as the 1998 and 2002 ACC Coach of the Year.

Prior to his arrival in Chapel Hill, Sagula spent nine seasons (1981-89) as the head coach of the University of Pennsylvania, where he compiled a 203-123 record with four Ivy League regular-season titles and three tournament championships. Named Ivy League Coach of the Year four years in a row, Sagula coached two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Melissa Ingalls to four consecutive All-Ivy honors.

In addition to his duties with the women’s team at Penn, Sagula served as the head men’s coach from 1981-89. His record with the men, which competed at both the varsity and club levels, was 111-75 (.597).

Sagula was elected president of the AVCA from January 2004 to December 2006 and served on the AVCA Board of Directors for a total of 10 years in various positions as president, president elect, past president, and chair of the Division I All-America Committee. While at Penn, Sagula chaired the NCAA Division I All-America Committee for four years and served 10 years as the Awards Chairman and President.

During the summer of 1990, Sagula served as an assistant coach for the USA National Women’s Volleyball B Team, which trained in Walnut Creek, California. Twice he has coached at the United States Olympic Festival - in 1987 in Chapel Hill as an assistant and in 1989 in Oklahoma City as a head coach. In both cases, his teams took home silver medals.

Sagula earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts, art education, and coaching from the State University of New York, College at New Paltz in 1978. On Sept. 16, 2012, Sagula was inducted into the New Paltz Athletics Hall of Fame. He was a three-year letterwinner and captained the team as a senior.

Sagula married the former Ingrid Weber in 2008. They live in Chapel Hill.

Sagula's Career Year-by-Year Record
Year	Overall	Conf.	Conf. Finish	Postseason
1981	22-11 (.667)	5-2	3rd	3rd in Ivy Tournament
1982	41-9 (.820)	6-1	2nd	Ivy Tournament Runner-Up
1983	22-15 (.595)	7-0	1st	Ivy Tournament Champion
1984	25-17 (.595)	6-1	2nd	Ivy Tournament Runner-Up
1985	19-18 (.514)	3-2	3rd	Ivy Tournament Runner-Up
1986	19-12 (.613)	6-0	1st	Ivy Tournament Champion
1987	24-10 (.706)	7-0	1st	Ivy Tournament Runner-Up
1988	17-15 (.531)	6-1	1st	Ivy Tournament Runner-Up
1989	14-16 (.467)	4-3	T-2nd	Ivy Tournament Champion
at Penn	203-123 (.622)	49-11	4 Ivy titles	3 Ivy Tournament titles
1990	14-18 (.438)	4-2	3rd	ACC Tournament Runner-Up
1991	18-15 (.545)	4-3	3rd
1992	19-14 (.576)	4-3	T-4th	ACC Tournament Semifinals
1993	16-15 (.516)	4-10	6th
1994	14-18 (.438)	6-8	6th
1995	17-18 (.486)	7-7	4th	ACC Tournament Semifinals
1996	20-12 (.625)	9-7	T-4th	ACC Tournament Semifinals
1997	14-17 (.452)	6-10	T-6th
1998	29-8 (.784)	13-3	1st	ACC Tournament Runner-Up, NCAA Second Round
1999	28-6 (.824)	14-2	2nd	ACC Tournament Champion, NCAA Second Round
2000	26-8 (.765)	13-3	T-1st	ACC Tournament Champion, NCAA First Round
2001	24-9 (.727)	12-4	T-2nd	ACC Tournament Champion, NCAA Second Round
2002	32-4 (.889)	15-1	1st	ACC Tournament Semifinals, NCAA Sweet 16
2003	20-12 (.625)	10-6	T-3rd
2004	19-15 (.559)	9-7	T-4th	ACC Tournament Runner-Up
2005	23-10 (.697)	18-4	T-1st	NCAA First Round
2006	11-20 (.355)	9-13	T-9th
2007	15-16 (.484)	11-11	6th
2008	22-11 (.667)	15-5	T-1st	NCAA Second Round
2009	15-16 (.484)	11-9	T-5th
2010	25-10 (.714)	15-5	2nd	NCAA Second Round
2011	24-9 (.727)	15-5	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round
2012	26-6 (.813)	16-4	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2013	27-5 (.844)	16-4	3rd	NCAA First Round
2014	29-3 (.906)	17-1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2015	21-10 (.677)	17-3	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round
2016	29-4 (.879)	19-1	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2017	14-14 (.500)	11-9	T-8th
2018	8-19 (.296)	4-14	T-14th
2019	15-13 (.536)	12-6	T-3rd
2020	10-8 (.556)	9-7	7th
2021	21-9 (.700)	10-8	t-6th	NCAA First Round
2022	17-12 (.586)	9-9	7th
at UNC	662-384 (.633)	–	7 ACC titles	3 ACC Tournament titles, 15 NCAA appearances
Career	865-507 (.630)	–	11 conf. titles	6 tournament titles, 15 NCAA appearances

Last Update: December 2022

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Joe Sagula	Head Coach	919-962-5228	jsagula@uncaa.unc.edu
Mike Schall	Assistant Coach	919-962-5411	mschall@email.unc.edu
Emily Zinger	Volunteer Assistant Coach	919-962-5411	ezinger@ad.unc.edu

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Phoebe Havenaar	Director of Operations	919-962-5411	phavenaar@unc.edu
Meghan Neelon	Technical Coordinator	919-962-5411	nmeg@ad.unc.edu

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