Caitlin Schweihofer Announces Randi Smart as New Rutgers Volleyball Assistant Coach
Rutgers volleyball is not easing into the future. It is charging toward it! It is quite evident because head coach Caitlin Schweihofer officially announced the addition of Randi Smart. She is in the team as an assistant coach on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.
Randi Smart’s Wake Forest Success Now Heads to Rutgers
Smart arrives "To The Banks" with more than 20 years of coaching experience across Divisions I, II, and III levels. Her resume includes 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 52 all-conference selections, 17 AVCA All-Americans, and 29 AVCA All-Region honorees.
🗣️ 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒
— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) February 10, 2026
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Randi Smart has joined the Scarlet Knight coaching staff with over 20 years of experience across the Division I, II & II levels, totaling 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 52 all-conference selections & 17 AVCA All-Americans.
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/HxslyZvDQ2
If that wasn't enough to prove how dynamic she is, she also had four conference players of the year and three newcomers of the year. Smart most recently spent six seasons as head coach at Wake Forest.
She was officially named to the position on October 11, 2019, after serving seven months as interim head coach. She originally joined the Demon Deacons in 2017 as an assistant, following eight years as head coach at Cal State Los Angeles.
During her tenure in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest compiled a 36–8 record against non-conference opponents. In 2023, the Deacons reached the highest NCAA RPI ranking in program history at No. 21. That same season, Wake posted a 17–12 overall record, marking the first time the program recorded back-to-back seasons of 17 or more wins since 2000–01.
Wake also tallied eight ACC wins in consecutive seasons, the first such stretch since 2009–10. In 2022, the Deacons finished 17–14 overall and earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. That marks the program’s first postseason appearance since 1986. They also secured 10 home victories that year, their highest total since 2014.
One of Smart’s defining strengths has been player development. Emma Farrell was named the 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year after leading the conference with 4.41 digs per set. She became just the second player in Wake Forest history to earn that honor. Farrell also earned two ACC Defensive Player of the Week awards in 2023 and has totaled four ACC weekly awards during her career under Smart.
Across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, three Deacons earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors. That was the most for Wake Forest in two years since 1997–98. In 2022, Farrell and Paige Crawford became the first pair in program history to secure All-Freshman honors in the same season since 2016.
Wake Forest produced 39 Academic All-ACC selections during Smart’s tenure. That included a program-record 12 honorees in 2023 and 10 in 2022, the second-highest total in program history.
Statistically, the Deacons were competitive across the board. In 2022, Wake finished third in the ACC with 14.50 digs per set. In 2021, Kalani Whillock tied for the conference lead in digs per set at 4.19. Kamryn Malloy ranked among the ACC’s top performers with 3.56 kills per set. Meanwhile, Andrea Fuentes averaged 10.15 assists per set and ranked in the top five in service aces per set.
Building Winners at Cal State LA
Before Wake Forest, Smart built a winning culture at Cal State Los Angeles. She joined the Golden Eagles as an assistant in 2008 and became head coach in 2009.
In her first season leading the program, she guided Cal State LA to a 23–9 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II West Region championship match. Over her tenure, she compiled a 136–90 record as head coach. She contributed to a broader 236–90 overall coaching mark referenced in program records.
Her teams made six NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. She produced eight All-Americans, 18 All-CCAA honorees, nine all-region selections, and the program’s second-ever CoSIDA Academic All-America award winner. Smart’s coaching foundation includes 10 combined seasons as an assistant at Cal Poly Pomona and the University of La Verne.
During six seasons at La Verne, the Leopards captured the NCAA Division III national championship in 2001 and returned to the Final Four in 2003. At Cal Poly Pomona, where she spent four seasons, the Broncos compiled a 73–40 record.
Smart’s coaching career is rooted in her playing background. She graduated from LSU with a degree in political science in 1998 and earned All-SEC honors with the Tigers. She began her collegiate career at Utah State. That's where she was named the program’s Rookie of the Year before transferring to LSU for her final two seasons.
After graduation, Smart played professionally overseas for ATSC Die Kamtner in Austria. She is also a graduate of Glendora High School in Los Angeles. There she earned All-CIF honors and was named league MVP.
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Shayni Maitra is a sports girl through and through writing about everything from locker room drama to game-day legends in the NFL and NBA. She’s covered the action for outlets like College Sports Network, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, NB Media, and PinkVilla, blending sharp takes with a deep love for storytelling. Whether it’s college football rivalries, Olympic gold-chasers, or the off-field chaos that keeps Twitter alive, Shayni brings the heat with heart—and just the right amount of humor.