Ray Gooden Position: Head Coach Experience: 10th Year Alma Mater: Ohio State, 1994

Entering his 10th season as Northern Illinois women's volleyball coach, Ray Gooden is coming off his most successful season. In 2010, he led the Huskies to an 11-0 start, which had never been done before in program history, ended with the most wins (27) for NIU since 1998 and gave NIU its best finish (second place) in the Mid-American Conference tournament since 2001.

However, Gooden's success at NIU has not been predicated to just one season. The Evanston, Ill., native possesses a respectable 156-129 record at NIU, including a 99-89 mark in Mid-American Conference play and an impressive 91-51 tally at home.

Gooden is in the process of leaving an indelible mark on the program as the top three place holders in kills, kills per set, attack attempts and points all played under Gooden, as well as the top two holders in digs and digs per set.

Additionally, Gooden has coached 17 All-MAC, five MAC All-Freshman and two MAC Player of the Year selections, along with the only three All-Americans in program history. Four players have also reached the 1,000-kill plateau under Gooden: Tara Lobdell, Kate McCullagh (1,936 kills, second in MAC history), Meagan Schoenrock, and Allison McGlaughlin, who has another year to add to her total.

Under Gooden, the MAC has seen several firsts as well. In 2009, Maddie Hughes nabbed the conference's first ever MAC Defensive Player of the Year award. Last year, Lauren Wicinski became the only person in league history to be named MAC Freshman and Player of the Year in the same season.

Gooden's impressive achievements have not come just on the court, however. They have come in the classroom as well. Since taking the reigns in 2002, the Huskies have had 11 Academic All-MAC, five ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, and Kristin Hoffman became the first in program history to be named an ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American (Third Team) in 2010. NIU has also been named a recipient of the AVCA Team Academic Award for each of the last three seasons, another program first. Gooden's group has led all NIU sports in GPA for seven of the last eight semesters and came in with an NIU-high 3.349 GPA last school year.

During his tenure, Gooden has produced three 20-win seasons (2003, 2006 and 2010) and has earned a bye in the MAC first round three times (2006, 2009 and 2010). Prior to last season, his most successful campaign came in 2006. Led by NIU's all-time kills leader McCullagh and all-time digs leader Gina Guide, that year Gooden won the MAC Co-Coach of the Year honor after winning the MAC West Division regular season crown.

On Sept. 9, 2008, the second all-time wins leader at NIU picked up his 100th win as the Huskies defeated Western Illinois in Macomb to become the fourth coach in program history to hit the century mark in victories.

Gooden's coaching experience over the past 10 years has gone beyond Victor E. Court as he has taken seven overseas trips to coach on international courts in Europe (three times), Japan (twice), Argentina, Guatemala, and Brazil.

Over the past two year alone, Gooden has sent players to play for the Bring It Promotions/USA Development Team in Brazil and China. He has arranged for players to play for the USA Volleyball A2 Junior National Team in Pula, Croatia, as well.

Gooden's national presence goes even deeper as on several occasions he has served as a court coach and evaluator for the National Team tryout in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Overall, Gooden has spent 16 seasons coaching collegiate volleyball at different levels including five seasons as women's associate head coach and four years as men's assistant coach at Loyola University-Chicago and two campaigns as the head men's coach and assistant women's volleyball coach at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky.

With Gooden serving as Liz Nelson's recruiting coordinator at Loyola, the Ramblers posted four consecutive 20-win seasons and back-to-back Horizon League (then-Midwestern Collegiate Conference) titles that garnered subsequent berths in the NCAA Tournament.

In addition to his efforts with the Loyola women's squad, Gooden was an assistant to Gordon Mayforth's Rambler men's team. Serving as the blocking coordinator while coaching the team's middle hitters, the LU men finished the 2001 season ranked 14th in the country according to the final USA Today / AVCA Coaches Top 15 Poll with a 19-10 overall mark.

Prior to his stint at Loyola, Gooden spent a season each at Chicago-area schools Lewis and Northwestern as an assistant coach. With Gooden serving as the top assistant, the 1997 Lewis men's squad finished 25-10 overall and ranked 10th nationally by USA Today / AVCA. In 1996 Gooden assisted the Wildcat program, where his responsibilities included setter training, scouting, and coordinating a volleyball-specific strength and conditioning program.

In addition to his time at the collegiate level, Gooden enhanced his résumé with coaching experience at the national level. Since the summer of 1995, the former Ohio State University standout has worked at all levels of the USA Junior National and Youth programs.

In 1998, he served as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball's High Performance Camp where he trained 24 of the nation's top 16-and-under players at the Olympic Training facility.

In 1999-2000, Gooden also had the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach for the USA Volleyball Men's Junior National Team while assisting with the USA men's program. Gooden started his coaching career path at the age of 22 as one of the youngest intercollegiate men's head volleyball coaches in NCAA history.

In April of 1994, Gooden developed the inaugural men's varsity volleyball team at Thomas More College. While at Thomas More, Gooden not only directed and led the men's program, but he also served as an assistant for the women's team that reached the NCAA Division III Regional Semifinals in 1995 and 1996.

As a player, Gooden earned two varsity volleyball letters at Ohio State and was named an All-Big Ten Conference club performer three times. An eight-time Prairie State Games competitor, he was named a three-time High School/Amateur Athletics Union Junior Olympic All-American and the 1989 Illinois High School Player of the Year out of Evanston High School.

At Ohio State University, Gooden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in September 1994. Gooden is married to the former Stephanie Lynn Scarpelli and they have a four-year-old daughter, Gianna Ella, and three-year-old son, Donovan Isiah.