In just two seasons at the helm of the Alaska Anchorage volleyball program, head coach Chris Green has led the Seawolves to one of the most remarkable turnarounds in collegiate volleyball, culminating with the program’s first-ever Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament win last year.
After being picked to finish seventh in the GNAC’s preseason coaches’ poll, Green’s 2009 squad wound up winning the league by three full matches, boosted by a school-record 13-match win streak. The Nebraska native earned both the GNAC and NCAA Div. II West Region coach-of-the-year awards as the Seawolves tied for the best winning percentage (.742) and posted the second-most victories in program history.
In addition to Green’s individual honors, UAA also garnered the GNAC’s Player of the Year award from senior setter Calli Scott, plus first-team all-league accolades by sophomore outside hitter Jackie Matthisen.
In 2008, Green took over a UAA club that had won just five matches the previous campaign, producing a solid 15-14 mark.
The Seawolves captured the title of their own Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational and recorded their first win over a ranked team in almost a decade when they beat then-No. 8 Augustana. Under Green’s tutelage, outside hitter Rhea Cardwell became UAA’s first volleyball All-American, and Scott became the first Seawolf to earn GNAC Newcomer of the Year accolades.
Coming off four straight national semifinals appearances and the 2007 national title, Green made the jump from junior college to the NCAA Division II level in the spring of 2008.
Before becoming the sixth coach UAA history, he spent the previous nine seasons (1999-07) as the head coach at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Neb.
Green built a powerhouse program at WNCC, compiling a 453-55 record that culminated in the 2007 NJCAA Div. I national championship. The Cougars finished in the top 10 at the national tournament in all of Green’s seasons, including a current string of four straight ‘Final 4’ appearances. In the last three seasons, WNCC went 163-7 and finished national runner-up in 2006.
Under Green’s tutelage, the Cougars earned a total of 10 first-team and six second-team All-America certificates and regularly placed players at NCAA Div. I and II programs. WNCC’s players also found success in the classroom, with the team maintaining a cumulative 3.0 grade-point average in all nine of his seasons.
The Gering, Neb., native also coached seven years at the prep level, including a 4-year stint at Kauai High School in Lihue, Hawaii.
Green earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from the University of Nebraska in 1991, and received his master’s degree from the University of Wyoming in 1995.
Courtesy: Michael Dinneen / UAA Athletics
