George Mason women's volleyball head coach Pat Kendrick has resigned from her position after 30 years as the Patriots head coach, Director of Athletics Brad Edwards announced today.
“I will always cherish my years spent at George Mason, having formed great friendships and fond memories,” said Kendrick. “I appreciate all the student-athletes who chose Mason to be a part of their lives. I wish nothing but the best for the Mason Nation.”
“Pat has really been the face of Mason volleyball for more than three decades, as a standout two-sport student-athlete and a coach,” said Edwards. “She did a wonderful job building the volleyball program at her alma mater that experienced success as conference champions and participation at the NCAA level. We are extremely grateful for all her hard work and dedication she provided to the program and to the young women that she has mentored through the years.”
Kendrick has bled Green and Gold since she was a two-sport athlete for the Patriots in women's volleyball as well as the University's first conference champion in track and field, winning the 100-meter hurdles in 1979. She was inducted into the George Mason Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.
After graduating from Mason in 1982, she was named an assistant coach with the women's volleyball team before assuming the top position in 1985.
A native and resident of Lorton, Va., she guided the Patriots to eight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships (1992-96, 2002-03, 2009) and six NCAA Tournament appearances (1993-96, 2002-03, 2009). Kendrick was also acknowledged as the CAA's top coach eight times (1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2009), and named Virginia (VaSID) Coach of the Year six times.
Kendrick has compiled a career record of 662-584 (.533), all at Mason. She tallied eight 20-win seasons, including two 30+ win seasons in her 30 years of coaching.
Along with the overall success of the program, Kendrick also has a knack for developing strong individual players. She has coached six student-athletes to a total of 10 CAA Player of the Year awards, including Aline Pereira who won the award three straight times. Kendrick has also coached six CAA Rookie of the Year honorees and two CAA Setters of the Year. The Patriots earned success in the classroom under the watch of Kendrick, earning five Academic All-American honors.
The Patriots last trip to the NCAA Tournament was in 2009 when Kendrick led the Patriots to a 23-9 record, a 14-win improvement over the 2008 campaign, and saw four players receive All-CAA honors, highlighted by Holly Goode's selection as CAA Player of the Year. Goode was also named to the AVCA All-East Region team, the 19th player under Kendrick to do so. The Patriots upended top seed VCU on their home court in five sets, becoming the first team to ever rally from a two-set deficit to capture the CAA title. The Green and Gold fell to #4 seed Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kendrick was an ambassador for Mason at the NCAA level serving a four-year term on the Division I Women's Volleyball Rules Committee.
Kendrick devoted her coaching efforts to youth teams and camps at the local, national and international levels. In 1993, she was the head coach of the East team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, where she guided her squad to the silver medal.
