WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Salem College's Interim Director of Athletics Chelsey Stewart named Barry Rymer as the program's head volleyball coach on Monday, July 12th, in a formal announcement.
Salem will mark Rymer's second coaching stint at a collegiate level, after serving as an assistant coach at Catawba on two occasions under Ginger Hamric. He coached at Catawba from 1999-2003 and later from 2006-2009, helping the Indians capture 189 wins along the way to a pair of South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Championships in 2000 and 2002.
With Rymer's assistance, Catawba also won the 2001 SAC Tournament crown and appeared in the NCAA Tournament Regionals on three occasions (2001, 2008, 2009) and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2008. Catawba had 12 SAC First Team honorees, nine SAC Second Team players and three All-Freshmen Team members during Rymer's time. In 2008 he worked with the SAC Player of the Year (Melissa Powers) and followed that up by tutoring the 2009 SAC Freshman of the Year (Kaitlyn Whitmer).
"We are excited to welcome Barry to the Salem College family," said Stewart. "Barry loves volleyball and will add value to the student athlete experience. The program will benefit from his vision and passion for success and mentorship. I look forward to seeing him elevate the program into the future."
Rymer comes to Salem after spending the last seven years at South Rowan High School where he served as the varsity assistant and jayvee head coach since 2015 and as the head coach of the beach volleyball program since 2018.
He closed out his career at South Rowan with 93 wins and five straight appearances in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Playoffs from 2015 to 2019. South Rowan captured the conference regular season and tournament crown in 2019 with a 28-2 mark one year after winning the first league regular season in school history with a 22-6 record in 2018. He worked directly with three All-Conference players, four All-County selections and helped two players to earn a spot on the East/West North Carolina State All-Star team.
In addition to the responsibilities at the high school level, Rymer was also the head coach of the China Grove Middle School team, a title he held since 2017, and the director/head coach of the Rowan County Volleyball Club, also since 2017. Through his Volleyball Club, Rymer guided three teams to the final round of 12 tournaments in 2018 and had a pair of regional qualifiers for the East/West State Championship. Meanwhile, the China Grove Middle School program won the conference crown in 2018 with a 15-2 mark, earning the first championship in school history.
The head coach and director of the volleyball program at the South Rowan YMCA, between 2014-17, Rymer becomes the sixth coach in Salem's NCAA Division III history. He follows Bouaketh Chanthavisouk, who finished 14-14 overall and 10-6 in USA South Conference play in her only season at the helm of the Spirits.
Rymer is familiar with the Triad, earning his bachelor of science degree from UNC Greensboro in 1993 after graduating Cum Laude with a 3.53 GPA. He added an AIG Graduate Certificate from UNC Charlotte in 2014, earning a 4.0 GPA in the process. He began his coaching career at the Greensboro Volleyball Club as the Tournament Director from 1995 through 2009.