Barbara Viera, head women's volleyball coach at UD for 27 years, announced her retirement this spring.

"Barb has been a tireless supporter and advocate for all the women's programs and her name has been synonymous with Delaware volleyball," says Mary Ann Hitchens, senior associate director of athletics. "Her efforts throughout the state and region to develop the sport of volleyball have yielded great returns, which will have impact for many years to come. The many student-athletes she has coached remember her with a high degree of respect and affection."

The Viera Court at Carpenter Sports Building has been named in her honor.

In Viera's final year, the Blue Hens posted a record of 12-21 and advanced to the league semifinals for the ninth straight year. As volleyball coach from 1973 to last fall, she posted a record of 682-429-4 at Delaware and she ranks no. 7 on the active NCAA Division I women's volleyball coaching win list.

In her 27 seasons, Viera's teams posted winning marks 22 times. She led teams to four post-season national tournaments, taking her 1975-79 teams to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships and her 1992 and 1994 squads to the National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Since beginning conference play in 1982, her teams never finished lower than fourth in regular season standings.

Viera was named league Coach of the Year four times, once in the East Coast Conference and three times in America East. A physical education professor at Delaware and a 1963 cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Viera completed her master's degree and doctoral work at Springfield (Mass.) College.

In 1999, Viera received the Patti Snyder Park Award, which is presented to select individuals from the college coaching community who over their careers have contributed to the growth and development of junior volleyball. She received the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports Pathfinder Award in 1991.

She also has coached on the international level, taking teams to Barbados, St. Lucia and the former Soviet Union. She participated in numerous coaching clinics and, in Panama, she worked closely with the men's national team.

Former Widener University coach Shannon Elliott will take over the head volleyball coaching position.