Head Coach: David Gurst (11th Season)
High School: Cherry Hill East
College: Glassboro State College (1984)
Major: Health and Physical Education
Veteran Rutgers University-Camden volleyball Head Coach David Gurst added an elite honor earlier this year when he was selected as a coach for USA Volleyball’s Seated National Team Development Program (SNTDP). The program “welcomes athletes with physical disabilities to learn and train in sitting volleyball toward National Team consideration,” according to the USA Volleyball website.
Gurst, who will begin his 11th season with the Scarlet Raptors during the 2025-26 scholastic year, is the longest-tenured and winningest volleyball coach in Rutgers-Camden history. Over his 10 seasons with the Scarlet Raptors, Gurst has compiled 127 victories and led the team into the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs five times and the ECAC playoffs on four occasions.
David Gurst’s Rutgers-Camden record
With a young team and numerous injuries, the 2024 Scarlet Raptors saw their streak of three straight winning seasons snapped but featured one of the top rookies in the New Jersey Athletic Conference in Gabby Gbolahan. The Scarlet Raptors also featured seven players who earned NJAC Academic honors, hiking their total to 34 such honorees during Gurst’s coaching tenure.
Rutgers-Camden will be looking to return to its winning ways in 2025. The Scarlet Raptors posted a 14-13 record during the 2023 campaign, which saw Kaliyah Moss capture NJAC Second Team and AVCA All-Region IV Honorable Mention recognition, while Isabella Choice earned NJAC Honorable Mention. Moss and Choice also joined teammates Erica Nebrich and Sophia LaPorta as NJAC Academic Honorable Mention students.
Rutgers-Camden finished the 2022 season with a 14-15 mark in a fall campaign that featured a match in The Palestra in Philadelphia, a NJAC playoff berth, saw senior Brinn Hassan break the program’s career assist record and saw three players earn All-NJAC honors. Hassan and Choice were both named to the NJAC Second Team, while Nebrich captured NJAC Honorable Mention.
Gurst led the Scarlet Raptors to one of the best seasons in program history in 2021, posting a 21-10 record, qualifying for a NJC playoff berth for the fourth time in his tenure and reaching the ECAC championship match. Gurst’s team also produced the program’s first All-American as Moss earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention among a host of other honors.
In addition to Moss earning NJAC First Team and NJAC Rookie of the Year honors, Morgan Fox captured a berth on the NJAC Second Team in 2021. The Scarlet Raptors also earned three NJAC academic honors, including Savannah Hayes, who was Rutgers-Camden’s female representative on the NJAC Academic First Team. During his nine seasons, Gurst has seen 27 of his players capture NJAC Academic honors.
Although the volleyball program posted a 3-4 record during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which was held in March 2021, the Scarlet Raptors managed to capture their first New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff victory under Gurst. That came during a 3-0 NJAC quarterfinal sweep over New Jersey City University on March 18.
The 2020 Scarlet Raptors saw both Devyn Cobb and Brinn Hassan capture NJAC Second Team honors, while Nebrich earned both the NJAC Rookie of the Year and NJAC Honorable Mention recognition.
During the last pre-pandemic season, Gurst’s 2019 team fashioned a 13-15 record, including a pair of three-match winning streaks. It also produced a program-record six NJAC Academic Honorable Mention performers. Gurst’s 2018 Raptors produced four NJAC Academic Honorable Mention players for the second consecutive year.
The seventh head coach in program history, Gurst led his first Scarlet Raptor team to the first round in the NJAC Tournament and the first round in the ECAC Div. III Metro/Upstate Volleyball Championship in 2015. Those Scarlet Raptors finished with a 13-14 record overall and a 4-4 mark in the NJAC, only one season after the team went 5-26 overall and 1-7 in the conference. Three players on Gurst’s first Raptor team were recognized by the NJAC for their performance on the court as Olivia Rowland captured NJAC Second Team honors, while both Brooke Hassan and Erin Thompson earned NJAC Honorable Mention.
Gurst led the team to back-to-back 16-wins seasons in 2016 and 2017, tied for the third-highest total in program history. His 16-16 club in 2016 posted the first .500 season at Rutgers-Camden since 2012, while becoming the first team in program history to reach back-to-back ECAC tournaments. His 2017 team finished 16-17, while earning the program’s third straight ECAC tournament berth.
In addition to his volleyball coaching, Gurst served as an interim head coach of the Scarlet Raptors’ softball team, inheriting the position partway through the 2017 season.
A 1980 graduate of Cherry Hill High School East, Gurst coached on the high school level from 1984 until taking the job at Rutgers-Camden in 2015. Most recently, he coached at Cherry Hill High School West as the head softball coach from 2004-2014, compiling a record of 132-102. Gurst led the Lions to two conference championships and is a six-time recipient of Cherry Hill West Coach of the Season. He also received the prestigious NJEA Public School Hero Award in 2008.
Gurst also was the head volleyball coach at Cherry Hill High School West from 2002-2012. Prior to his position at Cherry Hill High School West, he was the head volleyball coach at Cherry Hill High School East from 1993-2002, leading the Cougars to four conference championships.
Gurst was the head volleyball coach at Saddle River Day School from 1987-1989. He compiled a record of 294-120 as the head volleyball coach for all three schools.
Gurst also coached swimming at Cherry Hill High School West from 2004-2014, helping the Lions win two state championships and five South Jersey championships.
Gurst graduated from Glassboro State College in 1984 with a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education. He has been teaching at Cherry Hill High School West since 1991 as a Health/PE Teacher.
Gurst lives in Cherry Hill with his wife Andrea and his daughters Becca and Jessica.
