University of Charleston Men's Volleyball

Robert Poole, from Enfield, England, will enter his second season as Head Coach for the Golden Eagles Men's Volleyball program for the 2025-26 season and his 4th overall with the program. In 2025, his first season in charge, the Golden Eagles secured 5 wins in EIVA regular season conference play, matching the previous record in conference play. The team also secured a landmark first win in program history against Penn State at Rec Hall, finishing up the season 12-17. The program had 3 All Conference athletes in Kai Cousins (First Team, Freshman OTY), Paul Stommel (First Team) and Max Nissen (Second Team), along with CJ Raines as Honorable Mention. The team ranked as one of the highest EIVA First Ball Side Out % teams. Multiple athletes from the 2025 season are expected to go on and sign professional contracts, one of which is Paul Stommel who has signed for Bundesliga side Bitterfeld-Wolfen after working 3 years with Coach Poole. The 2024 Season was a year of firsts for the program, including the first ever post-season victory in a 3-0 sweep of Princeton and first program win at NJIT. The program earned a national ranking early on in the 2024 season and was a mainstay in the Division 2 Polls for the whole season. 2 Athletes broke school records in Poole’s second year with the UC Program, with Curtis Raines breaking the record for Career-Digs and Garret Schnitker breaking the record for Career Kills. During Poole’s first season working with former Head Coach Luke Reynolds, the Men’s Volleyball team also broke multiple school records as the program recorded 22 wins and 7 losses, including a 14-game win streak in the beginning of the season where the team did not drop a set. This was followed up by First Ever wins in program history against George Mason, NJIT, Lincoln Memorial and The Ohio State University. The UC program in 2023 also ranked nationally for the first time ever, reaching as high as 13th in the AVCA D1/2 Coaches poll. The team was also ranked 1st in the D2 polls for much of the 2023 season. Throughout the 2023 season statistically the UC Men’s Volleyball team ranked Nationally in the NCAA Top 3 for Blocks per set, Opposition attack efficiency and Attack efficiency. Along with the team success the program was also recognized with three 1st team All EIVA, two 2nd All EIVA, and two Honorable mentions All EIVA. The program also had an AVCA Player of the Week in Diego Villafane, and 4 Charleston players went on to receive professional contracts abroad following the 2023 season. Coach Poole has played an active role in developing the Golden Eagles serve receive and analytics under Coach Reynolds, and with his new role will play a more active role in developing the UC Offensive and blocking systems. Prior to working at the University of Charleston, Coach Poole was an Assistant coach for Wolfdogs Nagoya in the V-League in Japan under US coach Chris McGown. Poole had various roles in scouting, video analysis and on court coaching. He helped the professional team to finish 2nd in the League and win the Emperors cup, working with players that have competed on the various stages of International Competition. Poole has three years professional experience playing in several countries including Germany, Holland and Estonia. During his career, Poole also had the honor of representing his home country whilst playing for the English Junior and Senior national teams for both beach and indoor volleyball. Prior to his professional exposure, Poole spent some time in the states at the University of Mount Olive (2014-2018) as an opposite and outside hitter. During his collegiate career, Poole led the nation in aces per set in 2018, compiled over 1000 kills, and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American team in his junior and senior seasons. Poole went on to graduate from the University of Mount Olive with a major in Chemistry along with minors in physics and biology.

Quintin Ward, originally from Provo, Utah, is heading into his second season as an assistant coach with the Golden Eagles Men’s Volleyball program under Head Coach Robert Poole. In his first season with the team, Quintin helped guide the Golden Eagles to a 5-7 record in EIVA conference play. The season was highlighted by a historic win on the road against Penn State, who went on to become the EIVA champions, marking the program’s first-ever victory against them. The team also earned an appearance in the EIVA tournament. Quintin started his coaching journey back in 2019 as an assistant for the girls’ club at Club Elevate, learning under his dad, Bob Ward. He later moved on to coach boys at Club V Sports, where he led both U15 and U18 teams to compete at the national level. He also spent time coaching high school volleyball at Mountain View High School, serving as the JV head coach and varsity assistant. One of his proudest moments there was being part of Utah’s first-ever sanctioned boys volleyball game on March 4, 2024. As a player, Quintin was a libero at Utah Valley University, competing in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation in both the SCCVL and MWVBC conferences. He graduated in 2023 with a degree in Psychology and is now working toward his Master of Business Data Analytics at the University of Charleston. When he’s not coaching, you’ll probably find him watching soccer, playing outdoor volleyball, or traveling around the country coaching camps with Gold Medal Square. He also loves catching AVP and FIVB pro volleyball events whenever he can.