NEWARK, NJ --- It was announced on January 30 by Director of Athletics Mark Griffin that Cody Chidsey '16 will be the next Head Coach of the Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball program.

Chidsey takes over a very successful team after seven strong seasons under the leadership of Pedro Trevino who was recently hired as the Head Coach of the NJIT women's volleyball program. Trevino is a 2001 graduate of NJIT.

"We are very grateful for all of Pedro's contributions in his seven years at Rutgers-Newark and I am happy to see one of his former standout student-athlete's will be stepping in to lead this team in 2019." said Griffin, "Cody has been an incredibly important part of our men's volleyball program as a four-year student-athlete as well as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons so I am excited to see his impact as the new Head Coach."

Chidsey had an excellent career as a middle hitter for the Scarlet Raiders from 2013-16. For his career, Chidsey totaled 845 kills, a .377 attacking percentage, 248 total blocks (189 assists, 58 solo), 150 digs, 58 service aces, and 38 assists.

In 2015, Chidsey and his squad achieved new heights as R-N went 22-10 overall and 11-1 in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) during the regular season before taking the CVC Championship en route to an 'Elite Eight' appearance in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Individually, Chidsey had a fantastic campaign earning second team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and second team All-Eastern College Athletic Association (ECAC) honors in addition to being named the 2015 CVC Player of the Year. He completed that season third in the NCAA in hitting percentage at .444, had 3.70 points per set, 3.14 kills per set, and recorded double-digit kills in 17 matches.

As a graduate assistant coach in 2017 and 2018, Chidsey helped guide the Raiders to a 31-20 mark overall and a CVC Championship Semifinal berth in 2018.

"I'm very excited to have an alum take over this program." said Trevino, "Cody was an excellent player and a great assistant coach and I know he'll continue to guide this program in the right direction."

The Scarlet Raiders continue their 2019 campaign on Thursday night when they host Baruch College in The Golden Dome at 7 p.m.