Bentley University

Joey Pacis is in his 12th year as Bentley University's head volleyball coach after leading the Falcons to their first ever Final Four appearance and second straight NCAA East Regional championship in 2024.

The Falcons hosted the East Regional for the first time last season as the No. 1 seed and swept through to the Elite Eight with victories over D’Youville, Adelphi and AIC.

At the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Bentley knocked off No. 1 ranked Ferris State in five sets to advance to the Final Four, becoming the first Northeast 10 team to advance to the national semifinals.

Bentley ended the season ranked 18^th nationally by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). That was the first time in program history they achieved a national ranking.

Entering the 2025 season, Pacis sports a career record at Bentley of 193-107 overall and 96-33 in NE10 matches. He has 310 career wins overall in 19 seasons as an NCAA head coach.

In the 2023 season, Pacis guided Bentley to its first ever NCAA East Regional championship and Elite Eight appearance.

As a result of the outstanding season, Pacis was named the 2023 Sandy Hoffman NE10 Coach of the Year. It was the third time in his Bentley career he has earned the award, 2014 and 2019 were the other years, and the fifth time overall in his career.

Pacis has led the Falcons to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, in the 2019, 2021 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons, and six NCAA appearances overall (2014 was the first appearance at Bentley).

In 2022 the Falcons were Northeast 10 Conference co-regular season champions, and in 2019 Pacis guided the program to both the NE10 tournament championship and the regular season championship. 

The 2019 season saw Pacis earn both the NE10 Coach of the Year award and the AVCA Division II East Region Coach of the Year. The Falcons went 26-6 overall and posted a 16-match winning streak.

Pacis was previously the NE10 Coach of the Year in 2014 after directing the Falcons to a 19-12 record, a share of the NE10 regular season title, a berth in the NE10 championship match and the semifinals of the NCAA Division II East Regional. 

Pacis initially came to Bentley in 2013 as an assistant to AVCA Hall of Famer Sandy Hoffman and took over as head coach when she stepped aside for health reasons prior to the 2014 season. 

Prior to Bentley, The University of Illinois graduate was the head coach at Merrimack College for eight years, from 2003-10. He’s the winningest coach in Merrimack’s volleyball history, with a career record of 117-116, and guided his team to the program’s first two NCAA tournament berths, in 2007 and 2008.

Pacis was the Northeast 10 Coach of the Year in both of those seasons, and his team twice had the highest cumulative GPA among Merrimack’s varsity teams (2007, 2008). His 2009 team set a school record for wins with 21. Prior to being named Merrimack's head coach in February 2003, Pacis served as an assistant with the program for three years.

Pacis was an outstanding player for the University of Illinois, serving as the team’s starting setter for four years. In 1994, he helped the Fighting Illini win its first Big Ten men’s volleyball championship and earned second team All-Tournament honors. Illinois finished No. 17 in the nation.

While attending Illinois, Pacis volunteered as a student coach for the women’s Division I volleyball program under the direction of Mike Hebert and also coached at the Fighting Illini’s summer volleyball camps.

A native of Southern California, Pacis graduated from Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering. He resides in Watertown with his wife, Holly, their son, Ryan, and their chocolate lab, Jack.