Season 7 Episode 1:

Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd and Kristen Kelsay, Minnesota Women’s Volleyball Coaches

Kristen Kelsay

Kristen Kelsay was hired as the associate head coach for Minnesota volleyball in January of 2023, joining the staff of first year head coach Keegan Cook. Prior to Minnesota, Kelsay had seven years of experience as an assistant coach in the Big Ten, including four with Michigan State (2015-18) and three with Northwestern (2019-21)

In 2022, she worked as the recruiting coordinator and associate director of Volleyball Club Nebraska. Here, she served as the lead coach and coached both the U16 and U18 Elite teams. During her time at VCN, she assisted with the USA National Team Development Program, working with the U15/U16 age group.

Before NU, Kelsay coached for four years as an assistant coach at Michigan State under head coach Cathy George. In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Kelsay also served as the program's academic liaison and recruiting coordinator. 

Prior to her time on staff at MSU, she played for the Spartans, serving as a team captain for three years. During her time as a student-athlete, she appeared in 133 career matches. She received CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten nominee and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. In her career, MSU finished with an overall record of 85-50 and made two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. 

Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd

Jones Schoonderwoerd spent the 2023 season at California as the team’s interim head coach after taking over two weeks before the regular season started. She was hired as assistant coach before the former head coach stepped down in July of 2023. Under her leadership, Cal earned its first winning record since 2019 (and its second in a decade), finishing the year at 16-15 (5-15 Pac-12) with an undefeated 11-0 non-conference record.

Jones Schoonderwoerd heads to Minnesota with a strong collegiate and professional résumé as a player. A native of Long Beach, Calif., she played for four years at Washington under Keegan Cook, earning an AVCA All-American nod as well as three All-Pac-12 honors. She helped the program appear in two Elite Eights.

She was later named an All-American while playing beach volleyball at Cal Poly as a graduate student, leading the team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and making her just the second player in NCAA history to earn All-American distinction in both indoor and beach volleyball. Post-graduation, she played for three years on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) beach volleyball tour, earning a Rookie of the Year nomination in 2019, while also playing on Team USA in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) world beach volleyball tour.

University of Minnesota Women’s Volleyball: Website

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