From 1994-97, current WSU Assistant Volleyball Coach Shannon Hunt shared the hardwood in Bohler Gym with current Volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny, including the 1996 campaign when the Cougs advanced all the way into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championship Tournament.

Hunt became the first player in WSU history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.

After her time on the court at WSU came to a close, Hunt went on to teach while also coaching high school volleyball in Vancouver, taking two separate teams to state tournaments.

In 2011 Hunt reunited with the Greenys when she took a volunteer coaching position before being promoted to assistant coach prior to this season.

Much like for Jen and Burdette Greeny, coaching at WSU has been a dream come true for Hunt.

“It’s fantastic,” Hunt said. “I think the first year that I was here with Jen and Burdette I would walk in the gym and just take a deep breath and go, ‘Yes! This is the best place to be, ever.’”

While Hunt always wanted to return and live in Pullman, she never envisioned herself coaching volleyball at WSU.

Now that she is back, she echoes the feelings of the Greenys that experiencing WSU as an athlete has helped her as a coach.

“I think understanding that level of pride and knowing that where we were as far as the level of players here when we were here, knowing that a smaller program can get to that level is I think invaluable,” Hunt said.

Hunt also has fond memories of the Stanford match, Jen recalled.

“I had hurt my ankle, and they wanted to take me to the hospital, but I insisted on staying at the match and watching,” Hunt said. “They put a cast on me and gave me some really good pain meds so I could at least sit and finish the match watching.”

Despite the injury, the memory of the atmosphere from the match has stuck with her.

In addition to her first day back in Bohler, Hunt’s favorite memory since returning was the moment Jen offered her the assistant coaching position.

“I was actually on an airplane coming back from Mexico,” Hunt said. “I was dying to call her because she had texted me telling me to call her once I got back onto U.S. soil.”

“So I was in the airplane in between the time when you sit down and they ask you to turn your phone off. So I’m ducking down behind the seat talking really quiet and she says, ‘Would you like to?’ and I was like ‘Yes!’ I looked around at the people and had to apologize, it was hard to contain my volume on the airplane.”