Matt Ginipro became the eighth volleyball head coach in Appalachian State University volleyball history on June 2, 2007 and has seen a vast amount of success in his 14 seasons in the High Country, including a successful transition to the Sun Belt Conference in 2014.

During his tenure with the Mountaineers, he has posted 200 victories, including 60 in Southern Conference play and 55 in six Sun Belt Conference seasons. He is just one of two coaches in program history to reach 200 wins as head coach of App State and he is just 34 wins shy of becoming the winningest coach in program history.

In 2020, Ginipro posted the 200th victory at the helm of the Mountaineers with a 3-1 win over Georgia State on Oct. 23. 

In 2019, Ginipro's squad posted it second straight conference winning record, going 9-7. Facing a loaded schedule, the Mountaineers finished with 13 victories, including a winning streak of six straight. Three Mountaineers were named All-Sun Belt, with Emma Longley and Emma Reilly earning First Team honors. Kara Spicer was tabbed as Second Team All-Sun Belt. Longley earned her second straight First Team honor after tallying 464 kills, which was tied for ninth most in single season history. Longley concluded her career with 1,340 kills, which sits seventh all-time.

The 2018 season saw Ginipro's squad post a 10-win improvement from 2017. The Mountaineers finished 22-9 on the season and rolled the East Division title with a 13-3 Sun Belt record. App State made its second appearance in the Sun Belt Tournament championship match, falling to Texas State. The Mountaineers also made the program's first postseason appearance since 1994, participating in the NIVC. In all, four players earned All-Sun Belt accolades, highlighted by first team honors for Emma Longley and Becky Porter. Porter was also tabbed as Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.

In 2017, the Mountaineers tripled their win total from the season before, recording 12 wins. Ginipro saw Melissa McMath earn Second Team All-Sun Belt honors, while seeing Ashlyn Brown earn Sun Belt Setter of the Week honors twice, Kara Spicer garner in Sun Belt Freshman of the Week accolades twice and Lexi Kohut win Sun Belt Freshman of the Week once. 

Ginipro has seen success in recruiting as well. For the third straight season, his class featured by PrepVolleyball.com. The 2019 recruiting class, which featured five newcomers, was ranked in the "High Honorable Mention" category.

Graduating four highly contributing seniors combined with being decimated by injuries plagued the Mountaineers' 2016 season from the get-go, but that didn't stop a rising freshman and sophomore class from beginning to stamp their mark on the program. Under Ginipro, freshman Emma Longley earned multiple Sun Belt Player of the Week honors and posted two 30+ kill matches, including a program record 37 kills against Ball State.

Coming off of a stellar 2014 season, Ginipro guided the Mountaineers to an ultra-impressive 2015 campaign that saw the program soar to 22 victories and finish second in league play during the regular season, including a trip to the Sun Belt tournament title match against Arkansas State. Throughout the year, App State matched its program record 16-match winning streak, finishing with 22 victories, including 13 in conference play.

After posting 21 wins in 2014, the back-to-back 20-win campaigns were the first since the 2005-06 seasons. Taking the program to new heights in 2015 also brought many individual accomplishments. Senior outside hitter Jess Keller was named Sun Belt Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year, while senior Emily Corrigan and junior Ashton Gregory - along with Keller - earned first team all-conference honors.

Corrigan will finish second all time in career kills with 1,399 and Keller ended up cracking the top ten and sits 10th with 1,210. Senior setter Paige Brown recorded a career-high 65 assists in her final match and ended her career as the all time program assist leader with 4,478. Senior libero Meghan Mahoney also finished her career atop the Mountaineer record books and finished second in career digs with 1,855.

The 2014 season was a historic one for the Mountaineers. App state opened the season with 13 consecutive victories, including a top-25 win over a 24th ranked Louisville Cardinal opponent en route to a tournament win at Louisville. Appalachian finished 21-10 overall, it’s best finish under Ginipro, while also finished 11-9 in the Sun Belt Conference. Setter Paige Brown won Sun Belt Setter of the Year after earning Setter of the Week six times. Emily Corrigan earned a first-team all-conference nod after leading the Apps in kills and earning Offensive Player of the Week three times.

The Mountaineers reached the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament three times during Ginipro’s tenure, most recently in 2013 (the program's last in the SoCon) when the squad finished 19-13 and 9-7 in league play. He has coached seven players to all-SoCon honors and saw one of his student-athletes, Brittany Zahn, named as the 2007 SoCon Player of the Year.

In just his first year at the helm, Ginipro earned SoCon Coach of the Year honors for guiding his squad to a 14-4 league record and an appearance in the semifinal round of the 2007 SoCon Tournament.

During his time in the High Country, Ginipro has seen two of his players set school records. Dianna Thomas ended her career as Appalachian’s all-time kills leader in 2007 while Courtney Rhein broke the school record for digs during the 2012 season.

His program’s efforts have not gone unnoticed on the recruiting trail either, as his 2010, 2011 and 2013 recruiting classes were ranked among one of the nation’s best, earning an honorable mention among top recruiting classes in the country from PrepVolleyball.com.

In all, he has coached 22 all-conference honorees, five AVCA All-Region honorees and one AVCA All-American. In addition to his team's success on the court, Ginipro's squads have been highly successful in the classroom. During his tenure, Ginipro has seen one player earn Academic All-American honors and three players earn Academic All-District accolades. In all, the Mountaineers have earned 11 AVCA Team Academic awards.

Ginipro arrived in Boone with 12 years of collegiate coaching experience under his belt after serving as the first assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Virginia for six years. In March of 2007, he was promoted to associate head coach at UVa. At Virginia, Ginipro was responsible for coaching the Cavaliers’ setters and outside hitters and served as the program’s recruiting coordinator. During his six seasons at UVa., the team went a combined 105-82 and posted 19-plus win seasons in his final four years. His 2006 squad finished second in the ACC with a school-record 16 conference wins at 16-6 and posted a 23-8 overall record as Ginipro’s 2007 recruiting class earned Highest Honorable Mention ranking from PrepVolleyball.com.

Ginipro joined the Virginia coaching staff in May of 2001 after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi during the 2000 season. At Mississippi, Ginipro was responsible for coaching the outside hitters and primary passers, as well as serving as the recruiting coordinator. He helped Ole Miss earn one of eight spots in the SEC tournament after the team won only one conference match during the 1999 season.

Prior to coaching at Ole Miss, Ginipro spent four years as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, serving as the first assistant coach for the 1997, 1998 and 1999 seasons. His duties included coaching the setters, right-side hitters, recruiting and coordinating the team’s offense.

Ginipro graduated from Virginia Tech in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in sociology. He earned a master’s in counselor education from Radford in 1996. Ginipro was a member of Virginia Tech’s men’s club volleyball team and served as captain and coach for three seasons. He helped lead the Hokies to the 1992 and 1993 Collegiate Club Championships as the starting setter.

A native of Smithtown, N.Y., Ginipro is married to the former Roxanne Furey of Blacksburg, Va. The couple has two children, Kirsten Nicole and Nicholas Kyle.