Ray Lewis served as Central State University's head women's and men's volleyball coach from October of 2020 to April of 2022.
During his time as CSU's head coach, Lewis led the women's team to a 20+ win season while developing three All-SIAC selections and earned SIAC Coach of the Year honors. As head coach of the men's team, Lewis led CSU to the inaugural SIAC Tournament title and the SIAC regular season crown. CSU was 9-1 in conference play and 14-13 overall with five players earning All-SIAC honors in Lewis' lone season with the program.
Lewis came to CSU with a national championship pedigree. In his second season as head coach of Benedictine University at Mesa (Ariz.), Lewis guided the Redhawks to win the 2019 NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship. The team finished 26-4 on the season and featured four NAIA All-Americans, the NAIA Tournament MVP. In addition, the Redhawks went a perfect 10-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference and Lewis was named NAIA and GSAC Coach of the Year.
In his first season as Benedictine Mesa head coach, Lewis led the Redhawks to the school's first ever NAIA National Tournament berth, and his team took that opportunity to finish as NAIA Runners Up in their first appearance. Overall, his team finished with a 21-9 record and ranked No. 2 in the final NAIA poll of the season.
As an assistant in 2017, Lewis helped the Redhawks place first in conference, ranking as high as No. 9 nationally, all while earning the honor to host the school's first-ever conference tournament.
Under Lewis' tutelage the last two seasons, his players have earned six NAIA All-American honors, two GSAC Player of the Year honors, two GSAC Defensive Player of the Year selections, two GSAC Setter of the Year selections, a GSAC Newcomer of the Year and six different All-Conference honorees.
Lewis was featured as a panelist at the 2019 AVCA Coaches Convention on the “Why We Win” panel for men’s coaches education track. He was recognized as an AVCA 30 under 30 award recipient in 2020. Lewis also served as a member of the NAIA National Executive Board for several years and most recently served as the President-elect for the board.
Lewis has served as a camp clinician for Gold Medal Squared since 2018 and has worked with the organization on helping develop the Career in Coaching Scholarship program aimed at creating opportunities for young, African American coaches to advance their careers through education and mentorship.
Additionally, Lewis has served as a head coach for the Arizona Region High Performance program since 2018. The High Performance teams have competed at the USAV High Performance Championship hosted in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He has also served as a coach at the USAV High Performance A2 and A3 camps in 2017 and 2018.
Lewis served as the club director for East Valley Junior boys’ program (renamed to Prestige Volleyball Arizona in 2019) from 2017-2020. He was responsible for overseeing coach and player development, recruiting initiatives, scheduling as well as additional responsibilities. During this time, he served as the program’s head 18s coach. Lewis also coached for the East Valley Junior’s girls program from 2017-2018.
Lewis served as an assistant coach at Chandler Gilbert Community College from 2016-2017. In 2016, Lewis helped guide the Coyotes to their first playoff berth in over 5 seasons.
Lewis also coached the boys volleyball team at Mesa High School and earned the honor of East Valley Region Coach of the Year during his first season in 2017. He also assisted with the Arizona Sizzle men's professional team in the newly established National Volleyball Association (NVA).
Lewis had a successful stint in his home state of Nevada at the high school level, serving as head coach for both the boy's and girl's volleyball teams at Legacy High School for the past four seasons. His boy's program won a state title in 2014 and finished runners up in 2015. He was named SNVCA State Coach of the Year in 2014 for his state title winning team. He also led the girl's program to three straight playoff appearances for the first time in school history.
Lewis also had a successful playing career at Lakeland College in Wisconsin, helping his team to a runner up finish at the NCVF National Championships. He holds a bachelors degree in Physcology from Benedictine University of Mesa. He is currently Level II certified by the USA Volleyball Coaches Accredidation Program.
