Everywhere he coaches, Jing Pu wins.

Last night against Siena, Pu won his 300th NCAA volleyball match, a major milestone for his sport.

‘A hundred wins is a big milestone,’ Siena coach Ron Racey said. ‘Three hundred wins means that you have had the respect of players for an extended period of time.

‘The players respect him, the coaches respect him. I feel very proud for him.’

After the final point, Syracuse players and assistant coaches rushed to Pu to congratulate him, giving him high-fives.

They celebrated the victory with cake decorated by the nephew of team captain Abby Van Mater and a commemorative team photograph.

‘We’re very excited for him,’ junior Michaela Skelly said, ‘and it was great cake.’

Pu is modest about the accomplishment, attributing the number of victories to the length of time he has coached at the collegiate level.

‘To reach 300 wins in the NCAA,’ Pu said, ‘means that I am really getting old.’

Pu, SU’s head coach since 1995, has coached the Orangewomen to 161 victories, placing him second in school history behind Dan Schulte (200). Each of his Syracuse teams has finished with a winning record.

Pu was named Big East Coach of the Year in 1996, when he led the Orangewomen to a 26-11 record. Under Pu, Syracuse ranks third in total Big East victories. Pu’s career .668 winning percentage ranks in the top 35 of active Division I coaches.

In 1994, as the coach at Central Connecticut State, Pu led the Blue Devils to a 34-4 mark, the best in school history.

‘They had very, very good teams,’ said Racey, whose Siena teams played Central Connecticut in both of Pu’s seasons there.

Racey said Pu is known throughout the nation for his coaching and knowledge of the game.

From California University of Pennsylvania to Central Connecticut to Syracuse, Pu continues to coach his teams to victory because of his technical knowledge, Syracuse assistant coach Alexis Dankulic said.

Trained in China, Pu sees the game in a different way than American coaches, Dankulic said.

‘My defense has improved a lot since I have been here,’ co-captain Christen Casey said. ‘I give Jing credit for helping me improve my skills.’

On the bench during matches, Pu calmly takes notes, rarely saying a word to his team.

‘He is pretty hands-off when it comes to games,’ Dankulic said. ‘This allows the girls to be more laid back during games.’

‘Since he’s not always yelling and screaming at us, it shows he has confidence in us,’ sophomore Morgan Jones said. ‘This gives us more confidence to play better.’

Most of all, Syracuse players enjoy playing for a man whose professionalism and coaching ability have made him a winner in five states and two continents.

‘(Jing) knows his stuff,’ Jones said, ‘and he is a very good coach.’

Published on October 16, 2002 at 12:00 pm