Cougar
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Head
Coach Megan Hrbek
Elmira College '03
Fifth season
Megan Hrbek returns for her fifth season as the Caldwell
College volleyball head coach, having won back-to-back Central
Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division crowns the past
two seasons. She has turned a fledging program into a contender
in four short years. After the College re-established volleyball
as an intercollegiate sport in 2006 following a 15-year hiatus,
the Cougars went 4-41 over the first two seasons. The past two
campaigns have produced a combined 39 wins, two division titles,
two trips to the CACC Tournament semifinals and a CACC Coach of
the Year award for Hrbek in 2008.
“Winning a division title and advancing in the CACC Tournament
were goals we had for the program since the beginning,” Hrbek
said. “But I didn’t think it would happen so quickly, in just
three seasons. With two successful seasons behind us, we’ve
re-evaluated our goals and are focused on trying to win our
first CACC Tournament.”
Last season Caldwell repeated as North Division champions,
posting a 16-3 league record while finishing a program-best
21-12. The Cougars beat Nyack in the CACC Tournament to advance
to the semifinals, where they fell to Philadelphia for the
second year in a row. Sophomore middle blocker Titilola Alao
became the first Cougar named all-Region when she was selected
to the Daktronics all-East Region second team. Sophomore setter
Lauren Roth made the all-CACC first team, while freshman Susan
McDonough was chosen the league’s Rookie of the Year.
Picked
to finish last in the North Division according to the 2008
preseason poll, the Cougars proved the league’s coaches wrong by
winning 13 conference matches and capturing the CACC North with
an overall record of 18-11. The title resulted in the team’s
first berth in the CACC Tournament, where the Cougars defeated
Nyack in the first round before losing to Philadelphia in the
semifinals. Three of Hrbek’s freshman recruits earned all-CACC
honors, as right side Amber Mosher made the first team, Roth was
on the second team and Alao received honorable mention.
In Caldwell’s first season of intercollegiate volleyball since
1991, the Cougars failed to win a match with a roster of walk-on
students and student-athletes from other sports. The 2007
campaign was highlighted by the program’s first victory, a 3-1
triumph over Felician College on Sept. 25 in the George R.
Newman Center. The Cougars finished that season 4-24.
Hrbek arrived at Caldwell after serving as a coach at Premier
Volleyball Club in Maumee, Ohio, since 2004. She was named the
club's Coach of the Year in 2005 and also served as the
Tournament Director and Officials Coordinator for Premier, one
of the largest volleyball clubs in the Ohio Valley Region.
During the 2005 season, Hrbek served as a volunteer assistant
coach at the University of Toledo. She also was a volunteer
assistant at Bowling Green State University in 2004.
A native of Madison, Ohio, Hrbek was a four-year starter at
Elmira (N.Y.) College from 1999 to 2002. Playing libero, Hrbek
helped the Soaring Eagles reach the second round of the NCAA
Division III Tournament in 1999 and 2000, and capture the Empire
8 Conference crown in 2000 and the ECAC North Division title in
2001. She also was the team's captain during her junior and
senior seasons.
Hrbek graduated summa cum laude from Elmira College in 2003 with
a degree in mathematics. She also holds a Master's degree in
sport administration from Bowling Green.
Along with her coaching duties, Hrbek is the recreational sports
coordinator and event manager in the athletic department at
Caldwell College. She also coordinates Caldwell’s CHAMPS/Life
Skills program.
Assistant
Coach Alicia Rivers
Goucher College '01
Fourth season
Alicia Rivers begins her fourth
season as an assistant volleyball coach at Caldwell College. Rivers joined the Cougar
volleyball coaching staff after coaching at the
scholastic level for four years. Rivers spent three seasons
as the head coach at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis, Md.,
before starting the middle school volleyball program at Maryvale
Prep in Brooklandville, Md. She also served as a
coach at the Wild Blue Volleyball Club in Baltimore, Md., for
five years.
Before beginning her coaching career, Rivers was a standout
setter at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. A two-time captain
at Goucher, Rivers helped the Gophers finish second in the
Capital Athletic Conference and seventh in the region as a
freshman. At the end of her career in 2000, Rivers ranked fifth
in career assists in the program’s history.
Rivers earned her Bachelor’s degree in music from Goucher in
2001. She also served as a student-athlete mentor as a senior
and was on Goucher’s Athletic Advisory Council for two years.
In 2007, Rivers received a Master's of Education degree from Goucher. A
native of Midland Park, N.J., Rivers currently lives in Fort Lee, N.J.
She has coached at DIGS Volleyball Club for the past three years.



