Plymouth State University

Joan Forge was named the fourth coach in the history of the women’s volleyball program in January 2018. A three-time LEC Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2024), Forge has guided the Panthers to four regular season titles (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024) and five 20-win seasons in her seven seasons on the sidelines.
 
Forge’s squad tied the school record with 32 wins in 2019, posted the program’s only two undefeated runs through the LEC (2021, 2024), and reached the LEC Tournament Championship game in three straight seasons (2022, 2023, 2024) for the first time in program history.
 
Plymouth State opened the season with 11 straight wins last fall on the way to a 25-4 season. PSU held off UMass Dartmouth in a five-set thriller in the regular season finale to secure Forge's fourth regular season title, though the Corsairs came out on top when the two teams met again in the LEC Tournament championship. Forge and her staff were named LEC Coaching Staff of the Year, while Nora Ryan '24 '25G became the program's second All-American after repeating as LEC Offensive Player of the Year.
 
PSU won its first 16 matches in New England in 2023 after splitting four matches at the highly competitive Virginia Wesleyan Tournament to open the season. The team would make an appearance in the NCAA Division III Regional Rankings and finished the season with a 23-5 mark. The Panthers overpowered WestConn (3-1) in the LEC Tournament semifinals, then nearly rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the championship match at UMass Dartmouth, ultimately falling in the fifth set by a 15-12 margin. Forge earned her 100th career win in a sweep of Rhode Island College at the end of September, while Ryan claimed AVCA All-Region honors and was named LEC Offensive Player of the Year.
 
PSU won 12-of-13 matches during a five-week stretch in 2022, then closed the regular season with a dramatic come-from-behind win over CCC regular season champion Gordon College. The Panthers trailed 2-1 but squared the match with a 25-16 win in set four, then cemented the victory with a 15-11 win in the deciding set. As the top seed for the LEC Tournament, PSU swept Eastern Connecticut in the semifinals to host the LEC Championship game for just the third time in program history.
 
After COVID reduced the 2020 season to just four contests, Forge piloted the Panthers to an unbeaten run through the LEC regular season to claim the top seed for the LEC Tournament in 2021. Plymouth State picked up several conference postseason honors, including Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year to go with a pair of All-LEC First Team selections. Additionally, PSU had three players earn New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) postseason recognition.
 
Picked seventh in the 2019 preseason coaches’ poll, Forge led the Panthers to a school record-tying 32 wins (32-5) and regular season LEC title. The Panthers knocked off second-seeded Eastern Connecticut in the semifinals to host the title match for the second time in school history (2011), ultimately falling to fourth-seeded UMass Boston, 3-1. PSU established new records for home wins (16-0) and block assists in a match (22) and season (307) during the historic year.
 
In her first season at PSU, Forge guided the Panthers to a thrilling five-set win over UMass Dartmouth on Senior Day to help the team return to the LEC Tournament for the 23rd straight year. 
 
An alumna of Plymouth State (‘77, ’00G), Forge has also coached varsity softball and basketball during her career amassing over 1,000 varsity wins across the three sports. She spent 37 years as a physical education teacher at the Ashland Public School, Gilford Middle High School and Gilford High School, prior to retiring from teaching in 2014.
 
Before joining the staff at Plymouth State, Forge spent 42 years coaching high school sports in New Hampshire, including 33 years as the head volleyball coach at Gilford High School where she posted a 542-83 record, retiring as the winningest high school volleyball coach in New Hampshire. She owns New Hampshire state records with 15 state titles, a run of nine-straight championships, a 92-match win streak and 24 consecutive trips to the semifinals. In her 33 years as a head volleyball coach, her team reached the semi-finals 30 times.
 
Forge was inducted into the Plymouth State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002 and has also been enshrined in the NHIAA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001, the NHIAA Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Glen Rock High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. Forge was named the New Hampshire Volleyball Coaches Association (NHVCA) Coach of the Year an impressive eight times (1997, 1999, 2001-04, 2006, 2015) and the National Federation Coaches Association Northeast Sectional Volleyball Coach of the Year twice (2002, 2004), while coaching 14 New Hampshire Volleyball Players of the Year, two Boston Globe Scholastic/Athletic Players of the Year, and one Gatorade Player of the Year.
 
Forge is the owner and director of Pass Set Crush Volleyball Camp. The camp offers an overnight, outdoor adventure camp with a concentration in volleyball for girls entering the 7th-9th grades at Geneva Point Center on Lake Winnipesaukee in nearby Moultonborough. This year the overnight camp celebrated its 25th anniversary. Pass Set Crush also offers a day camp for girls entering kindergarten-6th grade. Forge also runs Panther Volleyball Camp in July and Panther Volleyball Clinics at PSU in the winter for both middle school and high school age players.
 
Forge and her husband Rick, also member of the PSU Athletic Hall of Fame, reside in Moultonborough.