Over the morning of a tumultuous Wednesday, WSU volleyball has gotten big news on two different fronts. First, head coach Jen Greeny announced her departure from the program and the team received some clarity on their future schedule.
Greeny spent 13 seasons at the helm of the volleyball program, finishing her tenure with a record of 235-175 and winning the Pac-12 Coach of the Year Award twice during her time. Her 235 wins brought her overall head coaching record to 347-199, a winning percentage of .636%. She leaves the program on a high note, finishing the 2023 season with a record of 26-8 and guiding the team to a Sweet 16 berth, the third consecutive 20-win season for WSU under Greeny.
“It’s bittersweet both ways,” Greeny said. “I feel like we’ve done all we can do here. We definitely left it better than we found it.”
Greeny is the fifth head coach in West Virginia volleyball program history, taking over a team that finished the 2023 season 9-22, going 2-16 in the Big 12. A proven program builder, Greeny is starting over from scratch, taking over a team that had a lot of similarities to the Cougs before she built them to where they are now.
Jen Greeny is a proven winner and program builder. She has built two volleyball programs into consistent powerhouses and has excelled at the Power 5 level,” Wren Baker, WVU vice president and director of athletics, said. “When we began our search, she was the type of coach and winner that we were looking to bring to Morgantown, and this is an exciting hire for West Virginia volleyball. She will be bringing a fresh start for us in the new Big 12, and I cannot wait for her to put her mark on our program.”
Under her leadership, the Cougs reached their eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2023 season. She also coached 12 AVCA All-Americans and led her team to finish six seasons in the AVCA Top 25 rankings.
A native of Davenport, Washington, the Cougs were a major part of every level of Greeny’s volleyball career.
She played her collegiate volleyball at WSU, being a three-time All-Pac-10 selection and WSU Athlete of the Year in 1998–99. Following her playing career, she joined the staff as an assistant coach starting in 2000, being a part of a three-year stretch where the team made the NCAA Tournament.
After getting her first head coaching job at Lewis Clark-State College, a role she had from 2007–10 and had a record of 112-24 with, WSU was her break into the top level of collegiate volleyball. Named the head coach for the first time in 2011, Greeny rebuilt the program from there.
“Leading Cougar Volleyball has not always been easy. It’s been about resilience, character, and the bonds forged in battle. Success lies not only in rankings and wins, but in the relationships built along the way,” Greeny said in an X post. “ I know in my heart that we gave it our all and certainly left it better than we found it.”
In her post, Greeny said that a major factor in her decision to move on from WSU is the challenging and uncertain times, alluding to the fact that the Cougs do not have a concrete plan for scheduling going forward.
“I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to lead the West Virginia volleyball program,” Greeny said.
In an unexpected twist, just an hour after West Virginia announced the signing of Greeny, WSU and Oregon State were announced to join the West Coast Conference for non-football and baseball programs over the next two seasons, according to CBS Sports.
Unlike the football program’s agreement with the Mountain West, WSU will be eligible to win the Conference in the sports they will play in the WCC, and will be de facto members of the conference from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.
As Greeny departs, it is anticipated that several players will be entering the transfer portal and the athletics department will begin the search for Greeny’s successor, needing to determine that quickly to maximize their potential in recruiting and use of the transfer portal.
