Maria Nolan, the winningest coach in NJ girls volleyball history, announces her retirement
Twenty-eight times in her 46 years coaching girls volleyball in North Jersey, Maria Nolan’s teams ended the season with a victory.
The Immaculate Heart Academy coach chose to cap her career the same way.
Monday, less than three months after guiding the Blue Eagles to the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship, Nolan officially announced her retirement via press release.
Including 19 seasons at IHA (2004-22) and 27 at Secaucus (1975-01), the winningest girls volleyball coach in state history finished with a record of 1,101-116, good for a .905 win percentage.
All told, the longtime Ridgefield resident guided 30 state-championship squads – including 13 straight during the Tournament of Champions era – plus 10 TOC winners and Immaculate Heart’s sectional title in the pandemic-altered 2021 season.
“The wins have been rewarding, but what I will miss the most is helping and watching the players progress,” Nolan said in the release. “I am very grateful to have coached so many volleyball players who were diligent in the classroom, and then attacked the court with the same intensity.”
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Her Secaucus teams captured 15 Hudson County titles and 16 state championships, going 520-70 during her tenure. She took a two-year break from coaching to spend time with her family, then accepted the job at IHA when her daughter Andrea was a freshman at the Washington Township school.
At IHA, her teams went 581-46 and won seven Bergen County titles, including the 2022 crown.
“Her wins and losses and the number of championships achieved will always be remembered in the record books,” Blue Eagles athletic director Steve Ferro said in the release. “But her ability to develop, teach, and motivate along with her gift of inspiring young women with her life lessons… [that] is her true IHA legacy.”
During her time at Immaculate Heart, the program had players earn New Jersey Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year awards 10 times – three for Nia Reed (2011-12-13), two each for Ariel Scott (2008-09) and Anna Morris (2018-19) and one apiece for Caitlyn Floyd (2014), Julia Morris (2017) and current senior Brookelyn Talmadge (2022).
“Maria’s résumé speaks for itself, but her passion for coaching young athletes and for the sport of volleyball is incomparable," IHA president Jason Schlereth said in the release. “We will miss her.”
“This chapter of my life has come to a close,” Nolan said. “But the memories will last forever.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Maria Nolan, winningest coach in NJ girls volleyball, retires
