UMBC

In his first season, Blanchard’s star freshman, Sarah Ball, was honored with the America East Conference Volleyball Rookie of the Year award, becoming the Retrievers’ first-ever recipient since joining the conference in 2003.  During that inaugural season, Blanchard also coached Ball to seven conference Rookie of the Week awards, the most awards by a freshman in America East history.

One year later, Blanchard’s new blood achieved the same feat.  This time it was Ashley Oscars who received the Rookie of the Year award and earned seven Rookie of the Week awards, tying Ball’s record for most weekly awards won in a season. 

The accomplishments didn’t end there however, as Blanchard led the Retrievers to their first-ever appearance in the America East Conference Tournament, and their first post-season competition since 2002, when they competed in the Northeast Conference Tournament.  Ultimately the Retrievers ended up in the America East Championship and fell to Albany after a hard-fought five-set match and posted a winning record of 16-15 in the process, the first winning season also since 2002.

Blanchard’s athletes are also rewriting the UMBC record books, with seven players accounting for 10 top 10 all-time single season marks and seven players placing their names on the all-time career records charts during Blanchard’s tenure.

With an America East Championship appearance under his belt, Blanchard will look to add another milestone to his list in 2007 by claiming the America East crown.

Blanchard began coaching at the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Towson University two years prior to coming to UMBC.  During his tenure at Towson, Blanchard was very instrumental in the growth of their program as the Tigers’ first assistant and recruiting coordinator.  Blanchard recruited talented student-athletes both on a local and national level, leading to an NCAA Tournament appearance by the program in 2004.  

Prior to Towson University, Blanchard spent a year (2002) at the Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville as the head women’s volleyball coach, leading the program to a 24-5 overall record.  Blanchard’s team went 12-0 in the conference and ranked 11th in the nation at the NJCAA Division-II level.  Blanchard was honored with NJCAA Region F and Maryland JuCo Coach of the Year accolades.   

In addition to his collegiate experience, Blanchard has made a name for himself at the USAV Club level, directing the Orange Crush of the Time Out Volleyball Club for eight seasons from 1997-2004.  Blanchard’s team went undefeated in the USAV Chesapeake Region from 2000-2004 and placed fifth in 2003 and third in 2004 at the USAV National Championships.

Blanchard is a former social studies teacher at Dulaney High School, where he coached the Baltimore County school to a 90-6 record between 1997-2001, winning back-to-back state titles in 1999 and 2000 and four consecutive final four appearances in the state tournament.  Blanchard was named Maryland State Coach of the Year for 2001-02 and Baltimore Sun Metropolitan Coach of the Year in 1999.

Blanchard earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Westfield State College (1988), where he was a four-year member of Westfield State’s men’s volleyball team.  Blanchard went on to earn his Education Certification from the University of Massachusetts in 1992.  Blanchard is certified with USAV Coaching Accreditation Program I & II.     

Blanchard is married with two children and resides in Phoenix, Md.