Now in her fourth season at the helm for the Rice volleyball program, head coach Genny Volpe has quickly established herself as the most successful coach in Rice history. In her first three seasons, the Owls have won 60 percent of their matches, knocked off two ranked foes, and received their first bid to the NCAA championship. Volpe's winning percentage is best for any multi-year coach in program history, and now she is ready to guide her charges to Rice's first conference title and a return to the NCAA championship.

In 2006, Volpe faced one of her toughest challenges as a coach as an already young team (only one senior and three freshmen in the starting lineup), battled inexperience and injury through out the season. Despite finishing the year 12-19 in which 10 losses came in five-game decisions, the Owls posted numerous impressive highlights during the year. In September, Rice stunned then No. 21 Arizona on the Wildcats home court with a 30-28, 22-30, 30-23, 17-30, 15-13 victory. The win marked the Owls third ever against a ranked foe, and second under Volpe's tutelage.

During the course of the season, senior Tessa Kuykendall became Rice's all-time block leader, finishing her career with 546. She also finished with a career hitting percentage of .286, ranking third-best in program history. Kuykendall added a third-straight all-conference honor to her resume as she was named to the all-Conference USA second team. Junior Yvette Kirk shattered the Rice record for digs in a season with 569 as the Owls posted a record 2,353 digs over the course of the year. Sophomore Karyn Morgan and freshman Jennifer McClean both recorded more than 400 digs, while Morgan also became just the fourth player in Rice history to post at least 400 kills and 400 digs in a singles season (finishing with 440 kills and 420 digs). Finally, newcomer Natalie Bogan was named to the C-USA all freshman team after her stellar debut.

After losing four starters, including three-all-Western Athletic Conference honorees, Volpe's young charges stepped up for her as Rice moved to Conference USA. Over the year, the Owls secured wins against NCAA-bound Duke and Sacramento State, and twice rallied from two-games down for victories on the way to securing a winning season with a 17-12 record. As the team grew over the course of the season, Volpe's upper classmen opened a lot of eyes on their way to making school history. Olaya Pazo and Kristina Hoban along with Kuykendall all received AVCA all-region recognition, with Pazo moving on to receive AVCA all-America honorable mention. She was just the second Rice player ever to be nationally honored, while the trio more than doubled the total number of all-region honorees in the history of the program.

Just as stellar off the court, Pazo, Hoban and Kuykendall also received CoSIDA academic all-district 6 honors.

In her first season at Rice, Volpe coached the Owls to a 25-5 overall record and the team's first ever NCAA tournament appearance. Volpe's squad finished the season with marks in the top 30 nationally in assists per game, blocks per game, kills per game, and hitting percentage. The Owls were ranked 15th in the nation in assists and kills, recording 15.54 assists per game and 16.9 kills per game. Even more impressive is the fact that the Owls were competitive with the very best teams in the nation, taking then third-ranked Hawaii to four games on the Wahine's home court and forcing a fifth game against then top-ranked Minnesota.

Prior to the 2004 season, only eight Owls had ever been named to the all-WAC team, but in 2004 six Owls received all-WAC honors. Rebecca Pazo, Olaya Pazo, Hoban, and Kuykendall were named to the first team and Lindsay Carter and Rebecca Kainz were selected for the second team. Rebecca Pazo was also an AVCA all-region honorable mention recipient, the first Rice player to receive this honor since 1995. Kuykendall was fifth in the nation in blocks with 1.74 blocks per game.

Volpe spent the three seasons prior to her arrival at Rice as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, where the Aggies tallied a 70-26 overall record and appeared in the NCAA tournament each season. Texas A&M went 23-10 in 2003 and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal where the Aggies lost to eventual national champion USC. The Aggies finished the 2003 season ranked 16th in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, and tied for third in the Big 12 with a 13-7 conference record.

The Aggies' 2001 season, Volpe's first as an A&M assistant, was special for the San Antonio native not only because she was returning to her alma mater or because A&M continued its succession of NCAA appearances that began her senior year, but also because one of her protégés, setter Jenna Moscovic, became only the second Aggie in A&M volleyball history to earn first-team all-America honors from the AVCA. In addition, A&M ended the season ranked second in the nation in both assists and kills per game.

Prior to Volpe's three years in College Station she was at Southern Methodist University, where she served as the first assistant coach and recruiting coordinator when the volleyball program began in 1996. After posting a 7-24 record in their inaugural season, the Mustangs went 15-19 in 1997, winning their quadrant in the Western Athletic Conference and qualifying for the WAC tournament. In only its fourth year of existence, the SMU volleyball team achieved its first 20-win season, going 20-13 and placing an all-time high fourth in the conference standings.

This is actually Volpe's second coaching stint at Rice, as she spent the 1995 season as an assistant under Henry Chen. She helped direct the Owls to their first postseason bid as they were selected to play in the NIVC tournament. Prior to her earlier days at Rice, Volpe served as student assistant coach under the Corbellis at A&M in 1994 as the Aggies made their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and advanced to the second round.

An all-around talented athlete, Volpe was a four year letterwinner as a setter and outside hitter at Texas A&M from 1990-93. She quickly developed into one of the best defensive players in the Southwest Conference and led the Aggies in digs for three consecutive seasons. A two-year team captain, Volpe capped her stellar A&M playing career by leading the Aggies to a 27-8 record and the second round of the NCAA tournament as a senior.

Volpe's name is still scattered throughout the A&M record books and she remains the Aggie all-time record holder for most matches played (140) and most games played (488). In addition, she is ranked third in career digs (1,403), seventh in career service aces (123) and eighth in career assists (2,309).

A member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, she is beginning her third term as a member of both the AVCA top 25 poll and the all-region committee. She served as the Conference USA coaches chair for volleyball for two years (2005-06). As such she worked with the league office on issues pertaining to volleyball, led coaches meetings, and assured her peers remained informed concerning C-USA rules and regulations.

Volpe continues to compete in the USA volleyball national tournament. In 2002, she was named all-tournament after leading Texas Advantage to a third-place finish at the USA Volleyball Open Women's AA Gold Division national championship. Volpe also was named all-tournament in 2000 as her team captured the Women's AA Gold Division national title, and in 1997 she was named all-American first team at the U.S. Open tournament after her team finished runner-up in the Women's Open Gold Division.

Volpe received a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Texas A&M in 1995 and a master's degree in liberal arts from SMU in 1999. Born Genny Wood on July 28, 1972, she married John Volpe on May 22, 1999. The couple has a son, John Joseph (4) and a daughter, Alice Marie (1).