Hartwick College Athletics

Janet Donovan enters her third season as the Head Volleyball Volleyball Coach at Hartwick College in the fall of 2025. Donovan served as the Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach for six years prior to being named Head Coach. She joined the program following a well-renowned coaching career at Ithaca College. In addition to leading the Women's Volleyball program, Donovan was selected as the Men's Volleyball Assistant Coach in December 2024.

In the 2024 season, Donovan led the team to the first round of the Empire 8 Tournament with four players being named to All-Conference. Staecia Silofau would garner her second consecutive Forst Team All-Conference honor under the leadership of Donovan. Braelyn Hornick would also be named to the AVCA ALL-Region First Team and selected as an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. Three Hawks would also be named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team this season.

In her first year as head coach in 2023, Donovan led the Hawks to an Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament Semi-final, finishing the regular season with a strong 14-10 overall record and an impressive 6-2 conference mark. The Hawks clinched a playoff spot by finishing third in the conference, with five players earning All-Conference honors under Donovan's guidance, including one First-Team selection.

In the fall of 2019, Donovan helped the Hawks finish the season with a 16-11 overall mark. Hartwick's winning percentage of .593 was the best mark in program history. The Hawks placed fifth in the league standings with a 3-4 mark and Toria Betelak and Colette Maloney each earned Empire 8 Second Team honors.

Donovan served as the Head Coach with former conference member Ithaca from 1992-2016. In her 24 years at the helm, the program amassed nearly 700 wins which ranked sixth in victories among current NCAA Division III head coaches and 15^th among all Division III coaches. In her budding years, she coached the program to back-to-back Final Four appearances including hosting rights at the 1994 NCAA Championships. Just five seasons later, the Bombers were also NCAA Quarterfinalists. Donovan’s squads boasted a 17-15 record in NCAA Tournament play, which includes nine consecutive trips from 1993-2001.
 
Donovan’s career with Ithaca included numerous conference-level successes earning seven IAC wins. She also took seven Empire 8 Conference Championships, most recently snagging bragging rights at the conclusion of the 2015 season. The program also garnered four ECAC Championships, most recently taking the crown in 2014.
 
Her student-athletes have collected many accolades under her direction, which includes 26 AVCA All-Americans. She has coached 22 Academic All-Americans, two AVCA National Players of the Week and three First Team ASICS All-Americans.
 
Prior to Ithaca, Donovan served as the Head Volleyball Coach of the Empire State Games Central Region Team for a season and three as an Assistant Coach. She was a Graduate Assistant Volleyball Coach at Humboldt State University, which compiled a 24-10 overall record, and was the Head Volleyball Coach at Keuka College in the Fall of 1990, where the Wolves earned a 24-14 clip.
 
Overall, Donovan was a two-time AVCA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year (1993,1994), an AVCA New York Regional Coach of the Year, Empire Athletic Association Coach of the Year, and the 1994 Ithaca Journal Female Coach of the Year. She was the 1999 AVCA New York Regional Coach of the Year, the 2000 and 2007 New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year and the 2004 and 2010 Empire 8 Coach of the Year.
 
Donovan is also a USWL Lacrosse official and USA Volleyball official. She has served on various committees including the AVCA DIII Head Coaches Committee, the AVCA All-America Selection Committee, the AVCA Regional Team Selection Committee and the AVCA All-Region Selection Committee.
 
Donovan earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SUNY Cortland. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1987 and a Master of Science in Education in 1993.