When Chris Green attends the National Junior College Athletic Association national volleyball tournament this weekend, he will be in a different role then the previous nine years when he guided the Cougars to the big show.
Instead, the former WNCC coach will be one of a spectator, scouting the players for talent has he recruits for his new school, the University of Alaska Anchorage. “I will be at the national tournament to watch so I will definitely be cheering for them,” Green said. “They had a great
season and I hope they play their best in Council Bluffs. It will be great to see them live. I will miss not being on the sideline coaching them, but I wish them the best of luck. Bringing home another national championship would be a great accomplishment.”
The Cougars enter the national tournament with a 56-3 record and have hopes of bringing home a second straight national tournament. And, while Green will be in the stands watching, he said he still followed Cougar volleyball.
“Yes, I still follow them. It was crazy to see them unranked when the pre-season polls came out,” he said. “I am glad they showed everyone that they are a national title contender again. I think the hiring of Giovana [Melo] was a great decision by Jennifer Pedersen [athletic director]. I think Coach G will keep the program at the top as long as she coaches at WNCC.”
While Melo has WNCC hitting on all cylinders, Green has the Seawolves program making vast improvements over the past couple of seasons. UAA finished the season 15-13 and upset regionally-ranked Central Washington in five sets in the team’s second to last match of the season. UAA also fell to No. 18 Western Washington in five sets.
The Seawolves also had some top performances during the season as Calli Scott was named newcomer of the year in the GNAC conference. They also received a first-team selection in Rhea Cardwell, who tallied 62 kills in the final two matches of the season, as well as an honorable mention pick from Cortney Lundberg, a transfer from Miles Community College.
“The players here were anxious to win,” he said. “You have to give them the credit for getting the job done. We actually lost four matches 15-13 in the fifth set, so our record could have been quite a bit better if we could have found a way to earn a point or two.”
Another player that contributed immensely is former WNCC and Gering High player Stacie Meisner. Meisner had over 500 digs from the libero position, averaging nearly five digs a set.
“Stacie did a great job as a libero for us this year. She was a big reason why we were able to get the wins that we did,”
Green said. “She has fit in well with all her teammate and did a great job in serve receive and on defense.”
Green is expecting even bigger things next year.
“We brought in three good JUCO players in Stacie Meisner, Cortney Lundberg (Miles City) and Calli Scott (Glendale C.C.), but there was a pretty good group of players already here, too,” he said. “We were hoping for a winning season, and so we are expecting to get the turnaround started this year.”
One of the reasons the Seawolves excelled this year was because not only of Green’s successful coaching, but also the team defense.
“We were a defensive team and I think our defense stymied a lot of our opponents,” he said. “They had a hard time putting a kill down to the floor against us. We had a lot of seniors who showed good leadership and had the experience and maturity necessary to get some of those wins.
“We lose five seniors this year so we will be recruiting hard the next few months. But we have a good nucleus returning, so I think we have a chance next season to be much better.”
And Green’s recruiting will take a turn to Council Bluffs and the NJCAA national tournament, where the last time he coached a junior college team, he led them to the national title. He said that there is a difference of coaching in the two-year and four-year ranks.
“Volleyball is volleyball and I think the biggest difference is that every team in our conference is a team that can beat you if you don’t bring your ‘A’ game. That wasn’t true at WNCC. There were times when we didn’t play well but still got the ‘W’.”
Green, however, doesn’t have any regrets about moving up north to try his hand at the four-year level. In fact, he really enjoys the outdoor activity up north.
“It is beautiful up here. The weather was nice up until October. It has been cold, but not below zero yet,” he said. “The hiking, biking and skiing are great and if you are an outdoor sports type of person, than this is definitely a place to live or visit.”
Green still breathes a little blue and gold and need down, he still has the heart and passion to say, “Go Cougars.”
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