On Monday, Glenn Kiriyama officially stepped down from his position as BU volleyball head coach due to personal reasons.

“I am thankful for the opportunity I have had to work with so many outstanding individuals throughout my tenure at Binghamton,” Kiriyama said, per bubearcats.com. “I have been blessed with tremendous support from my family, coaches, trainers and staff. Above all, it has been a pleasure to work with so many fine upstanding student-athletes who have dedicated so much for the success of the program. It is with a heavy heart that I leave, but I will always be rooting for the Bearcats. I wish nothing but the best for the future of this program and the department.”

Kiriyama has been the volleyball program’s head coach for 23 years. He came to BU in 1999 when the program was still in Division II and won back-to-back Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) titles in his first two years of coaching, leading Binghamton to its NCAA Division I status in 2001. Since then, Kiriyama has led the team to 12 America East (AE) tournaments, three NCAA tournament berths and 288 total wins.

Kiriyama amassed a long list of accolades during his time at Binghamton. In 2005, 2009 and 2012, the Bearcats won the AE championship title with Kiriyama leading the team. He was voted AE Coach of the Year in 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2016, and is the second-winningest volleyball head coach for BU just behind Jeanne Mathias, who headed the program from 1973 up until 1991.

Before Binghamton, Kiriyama was an assistant coach at four other schools including Rutgers and Eastern Illinois. His move to Binghamton came off the back of the Panthers going three consecutive seasons with upward of 20 wins.

In his final season with BU, Kiriyama’s team posted a 7-17 overall record that included a nail-biting 3-2 victory over conference rivals UAlbany. The victory over the Great Danes was one of three AE wins by the Bearcats in 2021 with the other two coming against NJIT. In conference play, Binghamton went 3-9 overall and landed sixth in the AE standings.

Binghamton will now begin a national search for a new head coach to replace Kiriyama.