Newman has appointed Joanna Pryor as head volleyball coach after she has served in the same capacity at Cowley College since 2000. Pryor’s coaching career began in 2000 with a brief stint as a student assistant coach at Wichita State. That same year, she took over the program at Cowley, twice leading teams to undefeated conference championships (2005 and 2008). The 2005 squad finished the season as national junior college runner-up and the 2008 team was undefeated through regional championship play. Pryor takes over for Maureen “Mo” Rohleder, who resigned after four years, but will continue as senior woman administrator.

Other transactions

Director of athletics – Flagler athletics director Dave Barnett resigned, effective July 1, but will retain responsibilities as head baseball coach. Barnett has been athletics director since 1994 and has guided the baseball team to a 657-502 record in 21 seasons … Bob Krause resigned as director of athletics at Kansas State, effective March 31, to serve as director of development for the K-State Olathe (Kansas) Innovation Campus. Krause, who has been affiliated with the university for more than two decades, became the school’s 14th athletics director last April after a stint as vice president for institutional advancement. Current Deputy Athletics Director Jim Epps was named as Krause’s interim successor.

Football assistants – Elon elevated offensive line coach Rich Skrosky to offensive coordinator and added assistant coaches Scott Sallach and Keith Gaither. Skrosky, who enters his fourth season as the Phoenix offensive line coach, was the run game coordinator. Sallach will assume the duties of pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach after successful tenures at Princeton (2003-08), Dartmouth (1998-2002), Monmouth (New Jersey) (1995-97) and Hamilton (1994). Gaither, the Phoenix’s new wide receivers coach, was former four-year starter at free safety at Elon in the late 1990s, and has most recently been defensive backs coach, recruiting coordinator and assisted with special teams at Winston-Salem State (2005-08), in addition to coaching at Tusculum and Greensboro … Rich Nagy was named as defensive coordinator at Hofstra, replacing Mike Elko, who accepted a similar position at Chattanooga in December. Nagy comes to Hofstra from Murray State, where he spent three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Women’s golf – Robert O’Malley was hired as the first women’s head coach at Niagara. The program is scheduled to begin in the fall as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. O’ Malley competed for the golf team at American International in the late 1970s and worked directly with the men’s golf team at Philadelphia U. during a 15-year administrative tenure at the school. An athletic trainer since 1988, he has served as an assistant at Marist and as a head athletic trainer at Gwynedd-Mercy in addition to working for the Temple University Centers for Sports Medicine and Science and the United States Olympic Committee sports medicine staff.

Men’s soccer – Ben Jorgensen accepted responsibilities as head men’s coach at John Jay. Jorgensen, who is currently employed at the Dactyl Foundation for the Arts and Humanities and who has appeared in several movies and on daytime television, was a two-year member of the New York University men’s tennis squad and has been involved in the sport as an instructor for more than 15 years.

Conferences – The Northeast Conference selected Tom Lopes as coordinator of men's basketball officials at the end of the 2008-09 season. Lopes succeeds Edgar Cartotto, who is retiring after 22 years in the position. The longtime official called 16 NEC championship games and also officiated in the Southeastern, Big East, Atlantic Coast, MAAC, America East and Atlantic-10 Conferences as well as the Patriot and Ivy Leagues. He is credited with 26 postseason NITs, eight postseason NIT championship games, 20 consecutive NCAA tournaments and three Final Four assignments.