Craig Martin was named the 13th head coach in program history on June 14, 2019 and is currently in his fourth season.
In 2021, Martin led Stonehill to a 22-10 record and 10-3 conference record. It is just the eighth time in program history the Skyhawks won 20 or more matches and its first since winning 21 matches in 2014, which also marks its last ten-win NE10 season. Stonehill also earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament following another NE10 Semifinal appearance and earned Stonehill's first-ever NCAA Tournament win with a 3-0 victory against Jefferson College.
Martin led the 2019 team to a 17-10 overall record and 9-4 in Conference play making it to the NE10 Semifinal round for the second time in three years. Sophia Poveda '21 was named to the NE10 All-Conference first team after a great year of leading the Skyhawks with her 2.88 kills per set and ranking seventh in the NE10. Rachel Dunlavy '20 led the way with her 4.52 digs per set and sat seventh in the NE10, as she reached a career total 1,181 digs to sit seventh in program history. She was also named to the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District I first team for the second time in her career and was named Stonehill's first NE10 Elite 24 Award winner for the highest GPA in the volleyball tournament final four.
Martin, a 2007 graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, where he was a member of the men’s volleyball club, will bring a range of knowledge as he has worked with NCAA Division I and III programs around New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He takes over as the 13th head coach in the Stonehill volleyball program’s 40-year history, after Kathleen Colpoys recently took over as head coach at her alma mater, College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts after four years in Easton.
“We are excited to welcome Craig Martin to the Stonehill athletic family as our new head volleyball coach,” said O’Keefe. “Coach Martin possesses tremendous coaching experience as both a head coach and assistant at the collegiate level, and his sincere commitment to developing student-athletes both on and off the court will undoubtedly benefit our program. He is a true teacher of all facets of the game, and we are eager to have Coach Martin arrive in Easton to begin mentoring our student-athletes as the program prepares to reach new heights.”
Martin comes to Stonehill after spending the 2018 season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Martin assisted head coach Resa Provanzano with training middle hitters and all blockers, as well as scouting and match preparation, practice planning and implementation, community and alumni engagement and student-athlete welfare.
“First I would like to thank the Director of Athletics, Dean O’Keefe, Associate Director of Athletics, Steve Fitzgerald, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Cindy MacDonald, and the rest of the search committee for believing that I am the right person to continue to lead this program into the future,” stated Martin. “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to head the women’s volleyball team and work with the incredible staff of Stonehill College. Hearing the dedication that the players are expecting to put forth as well as the support that we will be getting from administration, athletic training, and the entire Stonehill community is more than I could have asked for.
“Stonehill has a fantastic academic and athletic reputation and with the health of the program left by Coach Colpoys, I am very eager to begin the ongoing challenge of developing these student-athletes into tremendous young women and volleyball players.”
Prior to working with the River Hawks, Martin spent seven years as the head coach of the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, also serving as the intramural director. He led the women’s program to 78 wins and three Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament appearances in his time.
During his time as an undergraduate at Southern New Hampshire University, Martin assisted the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at Rivier University from 2005 to 2011. At Rivier, Martin assisted the team to six GNAC championships - four with the men and two with the women.
Overall | NE10 | |||||||
Year | W | L | Pct. | W | L | Pct. | ||
2019 | 17 |
10 |
.630 | 9 | 4 | .692 | NE10 Semifinals | |
2020 | 2 |
1 |
.667 | 0 | 0 | .000 | COVID-19 Pandemic year | |
2021 | 22 |
10 |
.687 | 10 | 3 | .769 | NE10 Semifinals | |
Totals | 41 | 21 | .661 | 19 | 7 |
.730 |