Rita Buck-Crockett

Rita Buck-Crockett is a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 and a two-time Olympian.

Rita Buck-Crockett is a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 and a two-time Olympian.

Most recently, FIU went 25-7 in the sand in 2021. Federica Frasca and Roberta Ribeiro were not only named to the CCSA All-Conference Team, the pair earned AVCA All-American honors.Buck-Crockett saw Paige Kalkhoff earn CCSA Freshman-team honors and Lina Bernier pick up another CCSA All-Academic Team award. During the season, FIU picked up impressive victories against ranked opponents including taking down then-ranked No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.

The 2020 indoor season saw FIU go 3-10 overall and 3-9 against league opponents. Fiorella Murillo was named to the All-Conference USA preseason team while Emily Meyer was named the C-USA Freshman of the Week once.

Buck-Crockett’s indoor volleyball team went 10-16 overall with a 3-11 mark against Conference USA teams in 2019. Lina Bernier was one of 11 student-athletes named to the 2019 Conference USA All-Academic Team, taking home the honor for a season-straight season.

The 2020 beach squad went 8-1 before the remainder of the season was cancelled to the COVID-19 outbreak. Two-time AVCA All-American duo Margherita Bianchin and Federica Frasca were undefeated on court one during the abbreviated season.

Buck-Crockett has led two of the most consistent programs at FIU with both the indoor and beach volleyball teams enjoying great success. For indoor, Buck-Crockett led the program to its first-ever Conference USA Championship finals appearance in 2018, as the Panthers won 19 matches on the year. The 19 victories for FIU was the most for the program since 2011. FIU also sported an impressive 12-1 mark at home.

On the beach side, the Panthers earned their first-ever NCAA Championship bid in 2018 after earning 23 wins and finishing the year ranked ninth overall in the AVCA poll. Buck-Crockett also coached the beach pair of Bianchin and Frasca to back-to-back AVCA All-American honors for the first time in school history. The pair are two of only three AVCA All-Americans in FIU's beach volleyball history.

Academically, the Panthers were awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award as well for their success in the classroom, while aiding FIU's overall efforts to win the Conference USA Institutional Excellence Award. The honor is given annually to the institution who earns the highest grade point average among C-USA schools. For APR, the Panthers have consistently been among the top programs at FIU as both of the indoor and beach programs have posted above the national average.

The 2015 AVCA Sand Volleyball Coach of the Year enters her seventh season with the indoor volleyball squad. In her first year at the helm of the program, Buck-Crockett led the Panthers to an 13-17 overall record and a 6-8 mark in the program’s first year as a member of Conference USA. The Panthers made an appearance in the Conference Championships, defeating Middle Tennessee in the first round before falling to Tulsa in the quarterfinals. In 2015, Buck-Crockett led the Panthers to another Conference USA Championship Tournament, this time as a seventh seed. The 2015 season captured a 15-13 overall record, the best mark since 2011.

Buck-Crockett also led the Panthers' beach squad to back-to-back AVCA National Championship appearances (2014, 2015) in the programs’ three-year existence. FIU finished this year as one of the Final Four teams in the country after receiving its highest ranking entering the tournament at No. 3. FIU broke multiple records, starting with highest ranking (No. 3), highest-ranked win (then-No. 2 Florida State), most wins over ranked opponents (4 vs. AVCA top 10; 5 vs. DiG Magazine top 20), most wins in a season (20) and longest winning streak (18).

At the conclusion of the 2017 campaign, the Panthers advanced to their first-ever Coastal Collegiate Sports Association title game against Florida State.

A member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 and a two-time Olympian, Buck-Crockett brought a wealth of playing experience at the highest levels of competition to FIU, along with over 20 years of coaching experience. Her experience as a beach volleyball player are second to none as she was a world beach champion for the WPVA (Women's Professional Volleyball Association) Tour, partnering with the first-ever Olympic Gold medalist Jackie Silva in 1989, and finishing as runner-up in 1990. She also played several successful seasons on the AVP professional beach circuit.

Buck-Crockett was a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Volleyball teams with the 1984 squad winning the silver medal, as she was considered one of the best all-around volleyball players in the world. A 1984 issue of Sports Illustrated touted her as the world's best athlete and nicknamed her "The Rocket," because of her 42-inch vertical leap and her 100 mile-per-hour kills. In 1981, Buck-Crockett was one of six players selected to the All-World Team. She has coached and played in the U.S., Japan, Italy and Switzerland over the last 17 years.

Buck-Crockett earned AIAW All-America honors at the University of Houston prior to joining the U.S. Olympic team to train for the 1980 Olympics. In 1981, she led the U.S. to a bronze medal at the World Cup in Osaka, Japan, and in 1982, that team won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Lima, Peru.

From 1982-86, Buck-Crockett was a member of the Daiei Team in Kobe, Japan, and her 1986 Daiei squad was the champion of the Japan League. She played beach volleyball on the Women's Professional Volleyball Association Tour from 1988-96 and played Major League Volleyball from 1986-87. Buck-Crockett was also a Major League Volleyball champion in both 1986 and 1987 and earned league MVP honors in 1986. In 1986, she teamed with Jackie Silva of Brazil to win the World Beach Volleyball Championship, becoming the first African-American to win a beach volleyball World Championship. The following season she was the league runner-up with Angela Rock (United States).

From 1988 until 1993, Buck-Crockett was a player for Matera, a professional league team in Matera, Italy, and also played in Rome. In 1991, she was voted the MVP of the Italian League, and her 1993 Rome team won the European Championship. Then, from 1993-98, Buck-Crockett coached and played in Switzerland for RTV Basel. During her tenure, her squads won titles including the Swiss Cup (1994-1996) and the Swiss Championship (1995-1996), and participated in the European Cup of Champions (1995). Buck-Crockett was named most valuable player four times.

In the summers of 2000 through 2002, Buck-Crockett was one of only three collegiate head coaches to coach some of the elite youth talent in the country at the USA Youth High Performance Camp at the Olympic Training Centers in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs.

Most recently, Buck-Crockett served as executive director, president and head coach of the North Florida Volleyball Association. In 2007, she was named USAV Florida Region Female Coach of the Year.

In 2004, Buck-Crockett also served as head coach of the Maclay High School volleyball team, which reached the Final Four in the state championships, and was head coach of the 2006 Florida State University School volleyball team, which won the district championship. Buck-Crockett has also been running the Rita Crockett Volleyball Camps & Clinics since 2004.

Prior to her stint with the NFVA, Buck-Crockett spent two seasons as the associate head coach at Florida State, during which the volleyball team compiled a record of 31-28.

Before joining the Seminole volleyball program, Buck-Crockett spent six seasons at the University of Iowa, where she had three All-Big Ten selections including an all-region member and an All-USA Team selection. In 2001, Buck-Crockett coached Sarah Meyermann to AVCA Mideast All-Region and All-Big Ten accolades, as Meyermann finished the season with 578 kills to rank sixth nationally. In 2000, Buck-Crockett and her coaching staff guided the Hawkeyes to a 15-win season, the most victories of an Iowa volleyball team since 1994. That year, Buck-Crockett coached Fabiana de Abreu to All-Big Ten Team accolades.

Buck-Crockett received a bachelor of liberal studies/communications degree from the University of Iowa in August of 2002. Buck-Crockett is married to Rene' Buck and is the proud parent of Marrita Crockett-Moulton.