Saint Mary’s College Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Matoso announced on Feb. 14, 2023 the hire of Janice Harrer as the head beach volleyball coach of the Gaels.
Harrer has now led the Gaels for two seasons, helping the team to a third place finish at the WCC Tournament in 2024. She has led her program to 34 wins over the past two seasons, making her the third winningest coach in program history. She is on pace to break the program win record in the 2025 season.
The 2024 campaign saw the Gaels win five more contests than in Harrer's first season at the controls. The 19 wins were the most for the Gaels since 2019, while the third place finish at the WCC Tournament was SMC's best finish since 2021. Her 34 wins in two seasons, tied Rob Browning for the most wins by a Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball Head Coach in their first two seasons. Over the past two years, Harrer has coached two first team All-WCC selections, four second team All-WCC selections, three WCC freshman team selections, and two WCC All-Academic honorees.
Harrer has spent the last five seasons helping build the Oregon beach volleyball program from the ground up. She joined the staff before the 2018 season as an assistant when the program was beginning its fifth year. Prior to her arrival, they had never won more than three matches in a season. In five years, their winning percentage nearly tripled, while Harrer went from an assistant to associate head coach.
The Ducks found their way into the Pac-12 All-Conference team following the 2022 beach season, with Brooke Nuneviller on the Pac-12 Second Team, and Reagan Hope being named to the All-Freshman team. Those were the first two all-conference players for Oregon beach volleyball in program history.
“We are thrilled to announce Janice as our new head beach volleyball coach. Janice is one of the most decorated beach volleyball players of all-time, and she’s helped grow the game wherever she’s gone,” Matoso said. “She is the perfect individual to help our beach volleyball program build upon years of success and reach new heights. We welcome her to Moraga and the Saint Mary’s family, and can’t wait to see her leadership in action.”
Harrer is one of the most experienced and successful beach volleyball players of all-time, with a career that spanned 18 seasons. She racked up 25 professional titles across the AVP, WPVA, and FIVB Tours, and won a host of awards including a WPVA Defensive Player of the Year award in 1990. She also owns 13 combined U.S. and World Championships.
All of those years spent on pro tours helped her land one of the highest honors during the peak of beach volleyball on a national scale: being named an Olympic alternate for the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first season beach volleyball was included as an Olympic sport. She qualified as an alternate with her partner at the time, Gayle Stammer.
Harrer’s career ended shortly thereafter, and in 2012 she was named to the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame, the ultimate recognition for one of the best beach volleyball careers the sport has seen.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be here. I take very seriously my role as a coach to mentor these young women, student-athletes, through the vehicle of volleyball so I’m excited to get started and to help continue to build this program,” Harrer said.
Her ties to Saint Mary’s ever present, as her daughter, Hawley, is a fifth-year member of both the indoor and beach volleyball progams at Saint Mary’s. Hawley has been named All-WCC in both indoor and beach volleyball, and finished her indoor career in the fall by leading the Gaels in kills. She was named the 2023 Female Student-Athlete of the Year for Saint Mary's.
