Lisa Gallagher announces her resignation from Sage

January 6, 2011

After a distinguished career at Sage, Lisa Gallagher has announced her plans to leave the .

Troy, NY ----Head women’s volleyball coach and associate athletic director at The Sage Colleges, Lisa Gallagher, has announced her resignation from the college. In her ten seasons at Sage, she produced a record of 174-168 and wraps her career as the program's all-time victory leader. The winningest coach in program history, Gallagher guided the Gators to two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, two Skyline Conference Championships and four Skyline Conference tournament appearances.

“It is difficult to describe the impact that Lisa has had on Sage and our athletic program,” said Director of Athletics, Dani Drews. Drews added, “As a coach, she was the first to lead the Gators to an NCAA tournament bid. Her players have set the standard for student-athlete excellence, earning academic and athletic awards year after year. As a colleague, Lisa has done nearly every task, assumed every role, making our department run and grow over the last several years. While we are sorry to see her leave, this is the right time for her and her family and we wish them all the best in their new home in Texas.”

Gallagher began coaching the Gators in 2001 and after ten full seasons of leadership, stands atop the Sage coaches' leader board with the most wins and highest winning % in the program's history. Gallagher has coached five AVCA All-Region honorable mention selections, had several players ranked in the top 30 in the country in statistics, had ten student-athletes named to the All-State Team, two NYSWCAA Scholar-Athlete selections and her team has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the five of the last six seasons.

In 2007, Gallagher guided her team to the Skyline Conference Championship, resulting in the first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament for her team and the school. Her players were recognized with 20 different awards throughout the season including, an AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention, AVCA Player of the Week, two All-State players and four Skyline Conference all-star selections. The 2007 campaign also marked the first year that the Gators were selected to participate in the NYSWCAA State Tournament.

The 2008 season saw the team repeat as the Skyline Conference Champions after a perfect 9-0 league mark. The team earned a bid to the NCAA's and over the course of the season racked up numerous honors and awards. Among the honors, Kaitlin Olmstead was named the Skyline Women's Volleyball Player of the Year, while also earning the selection as the conference's 2008-2009 NCAA Woman of the Year honoree.

The 2009 team finished as the Skyline Conference runners-up and team co-captain Kellie Jones was named the 2009-2010 Skyline Conference NCAA Woman of the Year honoree. This past season, the 2010 squad garnered a Skyline Conference tournament berth and produced Sage’s first, four-time, Skyline Conference All-Star First Team honoree in Nicole Corbett.

Prior to joining the Skyline Conference, her Gators were champions of the Division III Association of Independents and had two players to the All-Independent Conference team as well as the tournament MVP. The 2006 squad established the best record in program history after going 29-9 on the season. That team also earned their first-ever berth to and win in the ECAC Tournament. The Gators made a return trip to the ECAC's in 2007.

A 1995 graduate of University at Albany, Gallagher was the starting setter for four years. She finished her collegiate career leading the program in total assists, and finished in the top five in assists per game, and service aces. Gallagher earned NECC All-Conference honors twice, in addition to being named to several all-tournament teams and player of the week selections throughout her career. Her team competed in the ECAC finals three of her four seasons.

While at Albany, Gallagher received her BA in Communications. She went on to receive her MBA in marketing from The Sage Graduate School in 2007.

A search to replace Gallagher will begin immediately.