(Story Courtesy of Colorado College Sports Information Department)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Colorado College assistant volleyball coach Chad Koenegstein, who has helped guide the Tigers to a 111-14 overall record and the No. 1 ranking during the 2020-21 season, has been named a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Thirty Under 30 Award.
First presented in 2009, the AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award honors up-and-coming volleyball coaching talent at all levels of the sport.
"Being recognized with AVCA's Thirty Under 30 award is an honor and creates excitement for the future," Koenegstein said.
Throughout Koenegstein's four seasons at CC, his players and teams have achieved unparalleled success.
During the 2021 spring season, the Tigers earned the No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll when they posted a 17-0 record, the first undefeated season in program history.
Colorado College also won a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship all four years, and posted an .889 winning percentage, the highest of any four-year period in program history.
"In sports, competition simulates life…with opportunities to practice vulnerability, decision-making, and managing emotions," Koenegstein said. "My sport of choice to practice life is volleyball and sharing that opportunity is important to me - it's why I coach. To do so at an institution like Colorado College that supports life through competition in a 'Championship Culture' kind of way is pretty darn cool."
Koenegstein also assisted in the development of three players who earned All-America Honors – Lizzy Counts (2018-19), Marguerite Spaethling (2018) and Georgia Mullins (2021), while Jenny Jenks (2021) and Mullins (2019) earned honorable mention status.
The Tigers received three of the four SCAC major awards, including multiple recipients of Player of the Year (Spaethling, Mullins), Setter of the Year (Isabelle Aragon-Menzel, Jenks) and Freshman of the Year (Meaghan Hohman, Isabella Lipacis).
Colorado College also excelled in the classroom, earning the AVCA's Team Academic Award each season and having more than 80 percent of its players earn a spot on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll.
"Chad's commitment to the sport of volleyball makes him a very deserving recipient of the AVCA 30 Under 30 Award," head coach Sharon Dingman said. "He has touched and enhanced so many lives through our sport. Chad's enthusiasm for seeing a player develop in all aspects of their life is inspiring. From all the players Chad has coached, and coaches he has worked with, congratulations Chad!"
"Prior to his arrival at Colorado College, Koenegstein worked at USA Volleyball for two years in coaching education.
He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs during the 2017 season.
Koenegstein earned his bachelor's in elementary education from Murray State University in 2013 and currently is pursuing a master's in sport coaching at the University of Denver.