Indianapolis, IN– Russell Sage College's Director of Athletics and Head Women's Volleyball Coach, Sandy Augstein-Collins has been named to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Committee. The three-year appointment will commence on September 1, 2022.
Augstein-Collins, a 1987 Russell Sage College graduate joined Sage as the Associate Athletic Director and Head Women's Volleyball Coach in February of 2011. She was named the Director of Athletics at Sage, assuming leadership of the department in July 2017 following the departure of long-time Director of Athletics, Dani Drews.
Augstein-Collins assumed the role of Director of Athletics at an exciting time for Sage. The Gators announced the addition of two new varsity programs, field hockey and men's lacrosse and commenced competition in the Empire 8 in the fall of 2017. In the following years since assuming that role, she has also helped the department expand to include the addition of five new sports that will begin varsity competition in 2021-2022 as Sage will now offer women's golf, baseball and esport as Sage now offers 21 varsity programs.
As an administrator, Augstein-Collins served as the department's Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), while also supervising Sage's academic support and leadership development programs. In addition, she has expanded her administrative skills, and continued her professional development, while pursuing her doctoral degree in Sport and Exercise Performance. In her seven years with the Gators, she led her volleyball team to three regular-season conference titles and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2014.
In her time with the Gators, she has helped to re-establish Sage's women's volleyball program. In 2015, Augstein-Collins celebrated her 100 career Sage victory and the team won its third consecutive regular-season Skyline Conference title after collecting to regular-season crowns in 2013 and 2014.
In 2014, Augstein-Collins notched her 300th career victory and led the Gators to its first Skyline Conference Championship since 2008 and a return trip to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament. At the conclusion of the 2014 season, Helen Putriment earned an AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention acclaim. Augstein-Collins was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2012, a first for the 1987 Russell Sage alumna, who returned to her alma mater to lead the women's volleyball program. Her 2012 team exceeded all pre-season expectations as the league' coaches picked her team to finish fifth in the race for the league title. The Gators proceeded to finish second in the regular-season with an 8-1 record in Skyline Conference play. The team went 20-13 overall and collected a spot in the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro Division III Volleyball Tournament as well, after advancing to the Skyline Conference semifinals.
In addition to her role with women's volleyball at Sage, Augstein-Collins also served as the head coach of the men's volleyball program for the 2013 season. She led the program to the 2013 ECAC Division III North Men's Volleyball Championship, the Skyline Conference Men's Volleyball Runner-up crown after a school-record 30-7 campaign. She capped the academic year with her second selection from the Skyline Conference as she too was named the 2013 Skyline Conference Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year.
She returned to the coaching ranks in the fall of 2018 once again leading the women's volleyball program for her alma mater. She recently completed her 25th season as a coach of Division III women's volleyball and has a career record of 373-440 overall, with a mark of 141-214 at Sage.
The head coach for the women's volleyball team at nearby Union College (Schenectady, NY), Augstein-Collins returned to Sage having produced 219 career victories at Union in her 11-year tenure, the most by any coach in the program's 35-year history.
Before taking over the Dutchwomen's program, Coach Augstein-Collins spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons as the head volleyball and head softball coach at Randolph Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia. During the 1996 and 1997 volleyball seasons, Augstein-Collins was the head volleyball coach at Russell Sage College. Previous to the 1995 season at Union, she coached at the high school level, heading up a successful program at Bethlehem Central, where she also taught physical education for 10 years.
Coach Augstein-Collins is an active volleyball clinician, directing Sage's Volleyball Camp and coaching at numerous volleyball camps throughout the Eastern United States. She has completed Level II in the U.S.A. Volleyball Coaching Accreditation Program. She is also an A.C.E. certified personal trainer, a nationally certified kickboxing instructor, and an expert in Title IX issues and women's participation in sports.
She received her B.S. in physical education from Russell Sage College in 1987, where she also played intercollegiate volleyball. She received her Master of Physical Education with a concentration in teaching and administration from Springfield College in 1997. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in sports psychology from the University of the Rockies. Augstein-Collins was inducted into the Russell Sage Athletics Hall of Fame on October 14, 2006.
In addition, Augstein-Collins has recently been trained a certified team mental health instructors by L.E.A.D. (Let's Empower Advocate and Do). Augstein-Collins is one of the newest members to join the cohort of Mental Health Educators for Sports Teams. Through proactive mental health education, L.E.A.D. helps build team resilience, empowers athletes to overcome mental health challenges, strengthens mental health literacy, and promotes proactive mental health education.
Named the second vice president of the Empire 8 in 2018, she has been also working on her doctoral degree and completed her course work in the spring of 2020 at Ashford University.
