The 2021 season completed Ladi Iya's 14th year as the University's head volleyball coach. Over her time on the sidelines, she has seen a great deal of success from her teams both on and off the court.
During her time (13 seasons), Rochester has earned a 5th place finish at the UAA Championships in 2011 and 2016 battled to finish 6th both in 2012, 2014-15 and 2017. She also has coached 20 All-UAA players during her time at Rochester, including 4-time Honorable Mention selection Kelly Mulrey ('12) and 3-time selection Clara Martinez ('19). Her overall record on the sidelines is 213-231 (.480).
Following the 2021 campaign, Rochester had a pair of All-UAA honorees, including Sonia McGaffigan and Megan Gatz.
In 2018, Rochester embarked on a 12-0 start to the year, posting team titles at the Cortland Red Dragon Invitational, UR Invitational and Buffalo State Bengal Challenge. The dozen straight wins are a school-best start to a season in the 45-year history of the Yellowjacket program. Rochester also won or were co-champions of the Lycoming Invitational and NY Regional Challenge. Alara Kocak was selected as a 2nd Team All-UAA honoree and Clara Martinez earned her third straight All-UAA honor.
Iya earned her 200th career victory as head coach in 2019 when Rochester topped St. John Fisher to finish off a perfect 4-0 record at the Rochester Volleyball Invitational. The 2019 squad finished 7th in the UAA and was 12-20 overall.
Prior to her time at Rochester, Iya was an assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Evansville. She also served as assistant, then as the interim head coach at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. Following her time at Nicholls State, she was an assistant at the University at Buffalo.
In 2004, Iya was named an assistant coach at Nicholls State University which competes on the Division I level in the Southland Conference, where she trained the middle blockers and served as the recruiting coordinator. She also took on the role of NCAA Champs/Life Skills Coordinator, where she assisted in organizing the orientation program for incoming student-athletes. In this role, she also enabled the first student-athlete representative from Nicholls State to attend the 2005 NCAA National Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.
She re-established the Student-Athlete Advisory Council at Nicholls State and facilitated community service opportunities for the student-athletes. Iya assumed the position of interim head coach in the spring of 2005 before moving to the University at Buffalo for the 2005 fall season. Iya is a 2001 graduate of Evansville with a baccalaureate degree in business administration. She served as the team captain and starting middle blocker for the Purple Aces and is the single-season record holder for blocks at Evansville with 202. She also ranks 2nd all-time at Evansville in career blocks with 428. Following her collegiate career, Iya was one of 52 athletes selected to compete in the United States Professional Volleyball League (USPV), competing for the Grand Rapids Force in Grand Rapids, MI.
She was also a member of the Nigerian National Volleyball Team. She competed for Nigeria in the 2004 Olympic Qualifier for African Nations.
Iya has worked at a variety of volleyball camps, including Bob Bertucci Volleyball Summer Camps, and camps at The Ohio State , Purdue, and Cornell, among others. She was also the Director of Camp Operations of Summer Volleyball Camps while at the University at Buffalo. In 2007, she began coaching for Niagara Frontier Volleyball Club (NFVB), the largest junior level volleyball club in Western New York State and has also coached for VolleyFX (VFX) a Rochester based junior’s volleyball club.
She is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Iya is Level I IMPACT Certified by USA Volleyball and is a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy.
ROGER MAJESKI Assistant Coach
The 2022 season will be the sixth for Roger Majeski on the sidelines with the Rochester Volleyball program.
During his time with the Yellowjackets, he has helped coach nine All-UAA players and one All-Region honoree. Rochester's has accumulated over 80 wins with Majeski assisting the program, and UR finished 5th in the UAA in 2016.
He joined UR's staff after being an assistant coach at RIT for four seasons. Over that span, the Tigers accumulated an 83-76 record overall and had three Liberty League tournament appearances, including reaching the championship match in 2014.
Prior to coaching at RIT, Majeski was Head Men's and Women's Volleyball coach at Genesee Community College where he led the Cougars from 1986-2010. There, his teams combined to win 14 Western New York Athletic Conference titles, reach 12 NJCAA National Tournaments and post 124 straight conference victories. Also, he coached 15 NJCAA All-Americans and had 10 Region III, Division II Players of the Year.
Majeski was a 12-time NJCAA Northeast District Coach of the Year with GCC and was named Region III Coach of the Year 15 times.
He is active in several volleyball groups, including being a founding member and tournament director for the New York Outdoor Volleyball Association. Majeski also is on the Board of Directors for the Western Empire Volleyball Association and has been a collegiate level official since 1983. He also was a member of the AVCA for over 20 years and served as a chairperson and awards committee member.
A graduate from the College at Brockport in 1986 with a degree in Political Science, Majeski also earned his Impact Coaching Certification from the US Volleyball Assocation in 1989.
