Arturo Rivera joined the Wake Forest volleyball program as an assistant coach on June 20, 2016 after a three-year coaching stint at Harvard.
Rivera completed his third season as an assistant coach at Harvard in 2015. With Rivera on the sidelines, the Crimson won back-to-back Ivy League championships and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history last season. The team combined for a 48-25 record in Rivera’s time there.
Prior to joining the Harvard coaching staff, Rivera spent the 2012-13 season as a volunteer assistant at North Carolina. In his season with the Tar Heels, the team went 26-6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Rivera was responsible for video breakdown and coding with UNC. He also assisted with scouting and on-court coaching of the team’s liberos and middles.
In addition to working at Harvard and North Carolina, Rivera also had stints at UNLV and Central Florida, where he assisted with on-court coaching, scouting, recruiting and video work. He began his collegiate coaching career as an undergraduate at UCF, assisting with the varsity program while also serving as the head beach coach.
Before beginning his coaching career, Rivera played more than 12 years at the international, collegiate and club levels. He helped STV Tilburg to the B-League championship in the Netherlands following a first-place performance at the 2009 USA Open Volleyball Championships. Rivera has also trained in Puerto Rico with Ponce Leones of the Superior League.
He played collegiately at Ball State University from 2004-05 and then later for UCF’s club team from 2005-08.
A native of Orlando, Fla., Rivera graduated from UCF in 2008 with an interdisciplinary degree in health and education, and a minor in Spanish.