Alma Mater: SUNY Cortland '98
Season as Head Coach: 22nd
(including 2020)
Record at New Paltz: 533-249, .68
SUNYAC Tournament Appearances: 20
SUNYAC Championships: 3 (2009, 2014, 2018)
SUNYAC Coach of the Year: 6 (2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2018)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6 (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018)
AVCA Regional Coach of the Year: 1 (2014)
In Giufres 22nd season, the Hawks were ranked No. 4 in the SUNYAC. They traveled to Cortland for Giufres 20th straight tournament appearance, where in the SUNYAC Semifinal game they fell short losing, 3-0. Two players earned SUNYAC honors. First Team honor went to Jamie Albrecht and Second Team Letisha Perez.
Beginning on Aug. 3, 2020 Giufre served as the SUNY New Paltz Interim Director of Athletics, Wellness & Recreation for the 2020-21 academic year and following his tenure as interim, was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Head Women's Volleyball Coach beginning in the fall 2021. Along with head coaching duties, Giufre oversees Student Development, including the Hawk's Leadership Academy and academic progress.
In Giufre's 21st season as the head coach for the Women's volleyball team, he led them to a second seed in the regular season and their 10th appearance in the SUNYAC Finals while at the helm of the program. He additionally, coached four All-SUNYAC selections following the 2024 campaign, including four AVCA All-Region recipients and two to AVCA All-America honorable mention honors.
Giufre entered his 20th season at the helm of the State University of New York at New Paltz women’s volleyball program in 2022. Under his stewardship, the Hawks have cemented themselves as one of the top teams in the region and have become perennial contenders in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). He owns three SUNYAC titles to his credit (2009, 2014 and 2018) and has guided New Paltz to six NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, including a regional title in 2008.
He has coached 23 All-SUNYAC honorees, 35 All-SUNYAC East selections, five SUNYAC East Division Players of the Year (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009), five SUNYAC East Rookies of the Year (2004, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and two SUNYAC Rookies of the Year (2013 and 2014), including 26 AVCA All-Region and 20 AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention selections, including a third-team AVCA All-America selection. His student-athletes have received regional acclaim as well, as Giufre’s players have combined for 15 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-New York Region selections.
Giufre became the winningest coach in program history in 2009. He has also garnered the respect of his peers, as he earned SUNYAC Coach of the Year recognition in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2018. Giufre currently is ranked in the top 40 among active Division III coaches in winning percentage.
Giufre guided the Hawks to another SUNYAC title in 2018, defeating top-seeded SUNY Geneseo on its home court in three-straight sets to claim the program's fourth conference championship. He was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year after helping SUNY New Paltz finish the season at 27-9 overall and 8-1 in the SUNYAC.
2017 was another good year for the Hawks, as Giufre coached them back to the SUNYAC Tournament once again. This time, New Paltz was handed a loss in the semifinals at the hands of SUNYAC Champion Brockport.
He has coached his team to the SUNYAC Tournament each of the past 15 years, and the Hawks reached the SUNYAC Tournament final from 2008-11 before returning to the championship match once again in 2013-16. In addition, New Paltz earned a bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018.
New Paltz earned its second SUNYAC title in program history in 2014, going 31-6 overall (9-0 SUNYAC). The Hawks lost just two sets to SUNYAC teams all season and won both of their SUNYAC Tournament matches by matching 3-0 scores to win the title on their home floor. New Paltz swept all of the major postseason awards accorded by the SUNYAC, receiving the Coach of the Year (Giufre), the Player of the Year (Becca Borquist) and the Rookie of the Year (Maddie Zwickl).
The Hawks achieved a program-record 34 wins for the second time in as many years in 2013, and New Paltz also reached the regional final at the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The Hawk Center served as host to the 2013 SUNYAC Tournament after the Hawks went 9-0 in conference play, but upset-minded Buffalo State won a 3-1 decision in the final. Nevertheless, a strong at-large résumé, which included a win over then-No. 23 Williams College, helped vault New Paltz into the NCAA Tournament.
After missing out on the NCAA Tournament for two consecutive years, the Hawks returned to the national tournament in 2012, earning an at-large bid for the second time in program history. New Paltz set a single-season wins record in 2012, going 34-9 overall, and it advanced all the way to the regional final in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2011, New Paltz qualified for its fourth straight SUNYAC Tournament final, as the team compiled a 26-11 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the SUNYAC’s East Division.
2010 marked another successful season for Giufre’s Hawks. After having lost key players from his 2009 squad to graduation, New Paltz went 28-11 and sported a starting lineup that featured two freshmen.
The 2009 campaign marked a banner year for the program, as the Hawks achieved what was then a program-record total in wins (33) while capturing their first-ever SUNYAC Championship.
In 2008, the squad earned the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. New Paltz won its first three matches to be crowned NCAA Regional Champions and advanced to the round of eight before losing to the eventual national runner-up, the University of La Verne. The Hawks ended their season with a 32-10 record, the highest win total in the history of the women’s volleyball program at the time.
Giufre turned around a program that had gone 9-23 in the season prior to his arrival at New Paltz, and just three years into his tenure, he developed a winning tradition. Since 2004, the Hawks have not had fewer than 19 victories in a season.
Prior to his appointment at New Paltz, Giufre spent four years as the assistant women’s volleyball coach at SUNY Cortland.
Giufre is a 1998 graduate of SUNY Cortland where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He earned his master’s degree in health education from Cortland in 2002.
He lives in Montgomery, NY with wife Stephanie and daughters Molly and Madelyn.
Contact Matt Giufre at ext. 3919 or
giufrem@newpaltz.edu.
|
The Giufre File
|
| Year |
Overall Record |
SUNYAC Record |
| 2002 |
14-24 |
5-5 |
| 2003 |
17-19 |
5-5 |
| *2004 |
27-11 |
7-3 |
| 2005 |
29-12 |
8-2 |
| *2006 |
26-12 |
9-1 |
| 2007 |
27-12 |
8-2 |
| 2008 |
32-10 |
7-1 |
| *2009 |
33-6 |
7-1 (Champions) |
| 2010 |
28-11 |
6-2 |
| 2011 |
26-11 |
6-2 |
| 2012 |
34-9 |
6-2 |
| *2013 |
34-7 |
9-0 |
| *2014 |
31-6 |
9-0 (Champions) |
| 2015 |
22-11 |
8-1 |
| 2016 |
19-14 |
7-2 |
| 2017 |
20-12 |
6-3 |
| *2018 |
27-9 |
8-1 (Champions) |
| 2019 |
15-14 |
5-4 |
| 2021 |
14-14 |
6-3 |
| 2022 |
21-4 |
7-2 |
| 2023 |
21-8 |
8-1 |
| 2024 |
16-13 |
2-5 |
| TOTALS |
533-249 |
149-48 |
| * SUNYAC Coach of the Year |
