Coaching Staff
Radu Petrus
Head Coach
Radu Petrus enters his second season as the head coach of the men’s volleyball program at SUNY New Paltz.
In 2007, the men's volleyball team posted a 22-10 overall record and finished 12-2 in the NECVA-metro division. The Hawks earned the sixth seed in the NECVA tournament and defeated #11 Hunter 3-0 in the first round before being eliminated by #3 Eastern Mennonite 3-0. Middle hitter, Christopher Holden was named the NECVA Rookie of the Year and to the First Team All-NECVA.
Prior to his arrival at New Paltz, Petrus spent the last four years as the first assistant volleyball coach at Long Island University (LIU).
Last season LIU finished with a 26-14 record and became the first volleyball team in Northeast Conference history to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2004-05, LIU recorded the first conference title in the program’s 12 year history, with an overall record of 32-7.
Petrus spent four years as the head men’s volleyball coach of the Romanian Professional Second League. During this time, the team placed third and fourth in the league and promoted three players onto the Romanian Professional First League.
Petrus has coached at the High School level for 18 years in Oradea, Romania. He also organized and developed the Romanian Beach Volleyball Tournament at the Sports Club Nando.
For ten years, Petrus was a player for the Romanian Professional First League, where he helped lead his team to win and place among the first six of the League.
Petrus earned his bachelor degree in Physical Education and Sport from the University of Bucharest. He persued his masters in Health Sciences at LIU.
Contact Radu Petrus at ext. 3916 or petrusr@newpaltz.edu.
Philip Pendleton
Assistant Coach
Philip Pendleton begins his first season as the Assistant Coach of the men's volleyball team. He will assist Coach Petrus in all aspects of the program.
From 2001-2006, Pendleton competed at the Empire State Games, including five years on the open men’s volleyball team earning silver and bronze medals. In 2004, he generated enough interest to restart the club volleyball team at Richmond, after a two year inactive period. While at Richmond, Pendleton was an active member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, serving on various committees and taking part in multiple community service projects.
A native of Oneida, NY, Pendleton is a 2007 graduate of the University of Richmond with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and a minor in Physics.
Contact Philip Pendleton at ext. 3916 or pcpendleton@gmail.com.