Feb. 7, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - On Wednesday, St. John's volleyball head coach Joanne Persico-Smith announced longtime assistant coach Mario Treibit has been named the associate head coach of the Red Storm volleyball program.

"Mario has been an integral part of the success of the volleyball team since his arrival," said Persico-Smith. "His experience both domestically and internationally is a great resource to the program. He has been a loyal and dedicated employee for St. John's."

Treibit was hired as the assistant coach for St. John's before the 2000 season. Over the past eight seasons, he has helped build the program into the success it is today. He has assisted the Red Storm to two consecutive BIG EAST regular season titles, as well as the team's first BIG EAST tournament championship and its first trip to the regional semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament during the 2007 season.

Treibit is no stranger in the volleyball world. He has been well-known and well-respected throughout his numerous years involved in the sport as both a coach and an official. He has been a part of two Olympic Medal winning teams. Treibit was the interim head coach, then associate head coach of the Dutch men's national team that captured the silver medal in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, and was the assistant coach of the U.S. women's team which clinched the silver medal at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Treibit also served time as the head coach of the perennial powerhouse Rutgers men's volleyball team. Treibit guided the Scarlet Raiders for four years, and posted a 41-1 record in the 1977 season, when the team appeared in the national semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers also reached the national semifinals in 1980 under Treibit. He was later inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame.

TRANSACTION: Mario Treibit was promoted to Associate Head Coach of the St. John's volleyball team.