Ryan Patton is beginning his third season as the women's volleyball coach at Mercyhurst, and has quickly put a foundation in place for the improvement of the program. He is also the head men's volleyball coach at the school.

In his first season at Mercyhurst, the team went 13-15, a seven-win improvement over the 2004 season. In 2005, the squad went 7-18 and finished 2-15 in the GLIAC. But in 2007, with a roster that consisted of 12 freshmen and sophomores, Patton's Lakers posted an 11-game improvement with an 18-14 record, which was the most wins since 2002 and their first winning season since 2003.

During the season, Mercyhurst recorded an impressive 13-4 mark at home and opened the season with the best start in school history with 12 wins in its first 13 matches.

Prior to Mercyhurst, Patton served as assistant women's coach at Juniata College from 1995 to 2000. During that time, the Indians, now the Eagles, achieved two national runners-up and five Final Fours.

He also served as head men's coach there from 1996 to 2002. His men's teams won the Molten Division III National Championship in 1998 and made the EIVA Division III Championship from 1997-2002. Juniata won the titles in 1998 and 1999.

Patton was the EIVA Division III Coach-of-the-Year in 1998 and had an overall record at Juniata of 80 and 81, including a 56-37 mark against D-II and D-II opponents. As a player, his Juniata squad won the EIVA D-III crown.

The Meadville, Pa., native graduated from Juniata in 1994 with a degree in mathematics. He was a three-year letter winner for the Indians from 1992 to 1994 and was a member of the EIVA D-III All-Tournament team in 1993.

He is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association (PVCA). He's served on the AVCA men's coaches' committee for three years and has spoken at both AVCA and PVCA-sponsored clinics.

Patton received his master's in physical education (specializing in coaching) from Ball State University in December 2006.

He and his wife, Jenell, have two sons, Deke and Ike.

Patton's Record at Mercyhurst

	Overall			GLIAC
Year	W	L		W	L
2005	13	15		3	14
2006	7	18		2	15
2007	18	14		4	13
Career	38	47		9	32