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Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- ssmith37@buffalo.edu
- Phone:
- 716-645-5437
- Pronoun:
- he/him/his
Scott Smith begins his seventh season in 2025 overseeing the volleyball program after he was elevated to head coach on April 2, 2019. Overall, this will mark Smith’s 11th season on UB volleyball staff. He has the second-most Division I wins at Buffalo with 88 behind Robert Maxwell’s (1991-98) 126.
Last season, Smith guided the Bulls to a 16-16 overall record and 12-6 in conference play. UB went to their third consecutive MAC Tournament. For a third year in a row, the Bulls took home at least three All-MAC honors as Katrin Trebichavska and Abby Leigh earned First Team honors with Mandy Leigh taking home Second Team honors. In his tenure at Buffalo, Smith has helped the program earn 23 All-MAC honors since 2015. The Bulls also earned a program record seven Academic All-MAC honorees in 2024.
In 2023, the Bulls had their best season in Division I history. UB finished with a 23-9 overall record and 13-5 in MAC play. The 23-wins marked the program’s first 20-win season since the 1995 season when the Bulls went 22-13. During the campaign, UB reached as high as 54th in the NCAA RPI Rankings. The Bulls won their first MAC East Division title to earn the #2-seed in the MAC Tournament. UB earned their second postseason berth as they participated in the NIVC. Under his guidance, the Bulls had a program record five student-athletes earn All-MAC honors. Abby Leigh, Mandy Leigh, Courtney Okwara and Katrin Trebichavska earned First-Team All-MAC distinction. Manoela Forlin took home All-Freshman Team honors.
In 2022, the Bulls had a historic season. UB finished the season with a 19-14 overall record while finishing 10-8 in MAC play. The Bulls clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament and defeated 3-seeded Ohio in the quarterfinal round. Although dropping to Bowling Green in the semifinals, the Bulls were invited to play in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). This marked Buffalo’s first postseason tournament in their Division I era. They fell to the eventual NIVC Champion Boston College in the first round.
In the 2021 season, the Bulls notched six conference victories and 13 overall. The Bulls earned seven All-MAC weekly honors during the year and placed six individuals on the Academic All-MAC squad.
In the 2021 spring season, Smith guided the Bulls in a shortened year due to COVID-19, but coached one of the youngest teams in the nation, highlighted by freshman Milla Malik, who was named a second-team All-MAC selection.
In 2019, his first as head coach, Smith led Buffalo to an 8-8 record in league play and its first win in the Mid-American Conference Tournament since 2009. Smith help coach a pair of players onto the All-MAC team in Polina Prokudina and Rachel Sanks.
In 2018, the Bulls went 18-11, including 10-6 in MAC play, its best record in school history in league play. Buffalo entered the tournament as the #4 seed, earning a first-round bye in the league tournament for the first time ever. Other firsts for UB this past season included road wins at both Ohio and Western Michigan. Smith helped UB place three on the postseason all-league teams including Andrea Mitrovic on the first team and Polina Prokudina and Kristinia Nieves on the second team.
In 2017, Smith was instrumental in the Bulls finishing with their best MAC record in school history at the time at 8-8 as several players that he primarily recruited were some of UB’s top players during the season, including Mitrovic, who was named to the MAC’s all-freshmen team.
In his first season with the Bulls, Smith helped coach the Bulls to 6-10 record in MAC play, tying for its best record ever in the conference at the time and earning a trip to the MAC Tournament.
At Georgia Southern, his primary responsibilities were recruiting, assisting with daily practices, scouting and video editing.
The Eagles have won over 100 matches during Smith’s five years on the coaching staff, making two of the school’s four NCAA Tournament appearances and winning two regular-season Southern Conference titles.
Smith served as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia Southern in 2010 and 2011 while earning his master’s degree in kinesiology - exercise science.
The native of Herndon, Va., Smith served as the freshman volleyball head coach at Herndon High School and assistant for the varsity team from 2008-09. Smith spent three seasons as a Select Division coach for the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association (2007-10). He also served as the Camp Director for the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association in the summer of 2012.
A 2007 graduate of Appalachian State with a bachelor’s degree in recreation management, Smith worked with the volleyball team as a student assistant in 2006 and 2007. In his first season, Smith worked with former GSU Head Coach Chad Callihan, assisting with daily practices. While at ASU, he was the men’s club volleyball captain and president all four years and earned all-conference accolades at outside hitter three times.
While attending Herndon High School, Smith was a four-year varsity wrestling lettermen and district champion. Unable to compete in volleyball in high school because there was no boys’ prep volleyball in Northern Virginia, Smith managed the varsity girls’ team for three years. He played Junior Olympic volleyball for one season with Metro Virginia 18’s.
Scott lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y. with his wife Joan, who was an all-conference setter at Mount Olive College, an NCAA Division II program in Conference Carolinas, and their son Cal.
