|
 Jennifer
Greeny has turned the Lewis-Clark State
volleyball program into one of the premier
volleyball programs in the western half of
the United States. In her three seasons
leading the Warriors, Greeny’s teams have
won three consecutive Frontier Conference
regular season titles, three consecutive
Frontier Conference tournament
championships, as well as earning three
consecutive berths to the NAIA National
Tournament and finishing in the top 13 in
the nation each year.
The 2009
season saw a different team hit the floor,
yet produce the same results as the first
two years. Despite losing two First Team
All-Conference players from the previous
year and intentionally constructing one of
the toughest schedules in the country that
saw them square off and go 6-7 against an
astounding 13 Top 25 opponents (#1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 8, 10, 13, 18, 19 (twice), 21, and 23),
Lewis-Clark State enjoyed one of its most
satisfying seasons in Greeny’s three years
as head coach. The Warriors were picked to
win the Frontier Conference in the preseason
coaches’ poll and they did for the third
straight year. They also won the Frontier
Conference Tournament for the third
consecutive year and moved on the NAIA
National Tournament for the third year in a
row. Lewis-Clark State’s win against #13
Southern Oregon stands as the only win by a
visiting team in the two years and 24
matches of the First Round of the
reformatted National Tournament. Greeny won
both the Frontier Conference and Region I
Coach of the Year awards for a third
straight year. Multiple players obtained
All-Conference and All-Region honors for
their outstanding play, with Anile Clemente
earning All-American status for the third
successive year, this time as a Third Team
All-American.
Named head
coach in the late spring of 2007, Greeny
took the reins of a struggling program that
was supposedly in the rebuilding process and
led it to one of its most successful seasons
in program history. Picked to finish sixth
of the eight teams in the Frontier
Conference preseason coaches poll, Greeny’s
squad surpassed all expectations by winning
both the Frontier Conference regular season
and tournament titles, then by winning the
Region I Tournament, and receiving the
overall #9 seed in the 20-team National
Tournament.
From a team
that had won only 21 matches combined in the
previous three years before her arrival, the
Warriors ended the 2007 season with a 26-8
record. For her efforts, Greeny earned both
the Frontier Conference and Region I Coach
of the Year honors. She also had numerous
players earn All-Conference and All-Region
awards, including Clemente, who was named
Third Team All-American, Conference Player
of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
In 2008, the
Warriors were now tabbed as the team to beat
in the preseason Frontier Conference coaches
poll. Expectations were high and the team
did not disappoint by posting a 30-4 record,
winning both the Frontier Conference regular
season and tournament titles, and advancing
to the NAIA National Tournament for the
second year in a row. Lewis-Clark State
finished the season with the second highest
winning percentage of all-time, as well as
reaching 30 wins for only the fourth time in
program history. Greeny again garnered both
the Frontier Conference and Region I Coach
of the Year awards, while multiple players
won All-Conference and All-Region honors.
Clemente, for back-to-back years, was named
Conference Player of the Year – this time
securing a spot as a First Team
All-American.
Off the court,
Greeny’s program carries a servant’s
mentality in wanting to make the athletic
department, campus, and community a better
place by making coaches and players visible
in such activities as volunteering in local
elementary schools, mentoring disadvantaged
youth, Little Spikers volleyball clinics,
NAIA World Series, area club volleyball, and
various other programs.
A former
Washington State University two-sport star,
Greeny, who posted a remarkable 84-12 record
and .875 winning percentage in three years
as the head volleyball coach at Pullman High
School in Washington, was named the
Warriors’ coach in March of 2007.
Greeny, nee
Stinson, was a standout volleyball player at
WSU during 1995-99 and also played on the
basketball team her senior season. She spent
a year coaching in the Spokane area until
taking a job as assistant volleyball coach
at WSU in 2000 under then Cougar coach Cindy
Fredrick.
Greeny spent 4½ years on Fredrick’s
staff and then took over at Pullman High when Fredrick left for the
University of Iowa.
In 2004, her first year at PHS, Greeny
led the team to a 25-8 mark and a seventh place finish at state. The
following year, Pullman went 28-3 and won its first state volleyball
championship despite being picked to finish fifth in its league by a
vote of the Great Northern League coaches. She was the chosen the
Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Coach of the Year
and the GNL’s Coach of the Year.
In 2006, the team went 31-1, suffering
its only loss in the state semifinals. The team finished third at
state, and set program records for most wins and best winning
percentage. Greeny was chosen as the GNL’s Coach of the Year.
Greeny graduated from Davenport High in
Washington in 1995 where she was a stellar athlete. She was named one
of Volleyball Magazine’s Fab Fifty Freshman recruits. She also stood
out in track and basketball, where she finished her career as the
state’s all-time leading scorer (both boys and girls) with 2,881
points. She led the Gorillas to two state basketball titles and she
won three state high jump championships. Her accomplishments earned
her numerous honors.
She went to WSU on a volleyball
scholarship and became the seventh player in school history with 1,000
career kills. On WSU’s career list, Greeny ranks third in block
assists (360), fourth in total blocks (410), seventh in kills (1,006)
and eighth in solo blocks (59). She also trained with the U.S.
National volleyball team during the summer of 1997 and was a
three-time all-Pacific 10 Conference selection.
Greeny also excelled in the classroom
where she was WSU’s Athlete of the Year in 1998-99. She was a GTE/CoSIDA
District VIII Academic All-America first-team and second-team
selection her final two years and was a Pac 10 Conference All-Academic
selection three times.
At the time of her departure from WSU
in the spring of 2004, Greeny was involved in six of the 10 seasons
Cougar volleyball qualified for the postseason, three as a player and
three as an assistant coach. During her player career, WSU was ranked
as high as fifth in the country and made the Elite Eight of the NCAA
Tournament. Greeny was instrumental in WSU’s second and only other
appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, this time as an
assistant coach.
Greeny and her husband, Burdette
Greeny, Lewis-Clark State’s assistant volleyball coach and former
standout pitcher at WSU, have two daughters – Lauren, age 6, and Leah,
born in November 2009.
Associate Head Coach
Burdette Greeny
bogreeny@lcsc.edu
 Burdette has
performed a significant role in the rise of the Lewis-Clark State
volleyball program. His duties consist of coordinating recruiting
efforts, on court instruction of serving, passing, and outside
hitters, academic progress, strength, conditioning, and mental
training, V-Club, plus various other administrative
responsibilities. In 2009, he was one of 20 assistant coaches to be
nominated for the NAIA National Assistant Coach of the Year award.
“Burdette’s passion for Lewis-Clark
State volleyball shows in everything he does,” said head coach Jen
Greeny. “He puts his heart and soul into this volleyball program,
as evidenced by the type of student-athletes he has been able to
recruit. Burdette also takes great pride in the improvement of each
recruit, both on and off the court, once they arrive on campus. His
knowledge has translated directly to the success we have had. I am
extremely lucky to have such an excellent assistant to work with
every day.”
In three years, Burdette has helped
land three Junior College 1st Team All-Americans, one JC
2nd Team All-American, one Gatorade State Player of the
Year, two state players of the year, and 12 first team all-state
selections. While playing for the Warriors, these recruits have
continued their success by earning three All-American, one Region
Player of the Year, three First Team All-Region, two Honorable
Mention All-Region, two Conference Player of the Year, four First
Team All-Conference, two Second Team All-Conference, three Freshman
All-Conference, and seven Conference Player of the Week awards.
The Lewis-Clark State volleyball players have been
stellar in the classroom as well. In the five semesters of
academics thus far, the team GPA has been above a 3.19 for every one
of them. During the fall 2009 season, the Warriors posted an
astounding 3.59 team GPA with 14 of the 16 players getting above a
3.0, 12 of the 16 getting above a 3.25, six of the 16 getting above
a 3.75, and four players garnering a perfect 4.0 GPA. In three
years, 27 players have been named to the Conference All-Academic
Team and three players awarded Academic All-American status
Coaching and athletics runs in Burdette’s family.
The son of coaches, Burdette was born in Port Angeles, WA., to
Burdette Jr. and Cynthia Greeny, the latter a volleyball coach at
Port Angeles High School. His sister, Karena, played basketball at
the University of Hawaii.
Burdette played both basketball and baseball at Port
Angeles High, earning three letters in basketball and two in
baseball. He earned first-team all-league honors in basketball his
senior season and was a first-team all-league performer at third
base his junior and senior seasons after being an honorable mention
selection as a sophomore. He was named one of the top 10 pitchers in
the state in 1993 by the Tacoma News Tribune and was drafted that
year in the 32nd round by the New York Mets.
Burdette chose to stay in school and attended Tacoma
Community College for two years (1993-95), where he played one year
of basketball and two years of baseball. He earned second-team
All-West Region honors both years as a third baseman and also set a
school record for striking out 17 batters in a game against Lower
Columbia Community College.
Burdette then pitched for Washington State University
in 1997 and won the Strength and Conditioning Award. He signed as a
free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers before the 1998 draft and was
with the organization for two seasons.
Burdette then began his coaching career, first with
the Pullman Posse Junior American Legion team in 2000 for two
seasons, and then with the Pullman Patriots Senior Legion team for
five seasons. His Senior Legion team went on to win two regular
season league titles, as he lead them to the program’s second
appearance ever at the state tournament--with the first appearance
coming in 1968. His team also won the first game ever at the state
tournament in the long history of the Patriots--a team that dates
back to 1950.
Of the players who used up their Legion eligibility
under Burdette, 88 percent went on to play college baseball.
Burdette met Jennifer Stinson while at WSU and the
couple is married with two daughters - Lauren age 6, and Leah, born
in November 2009. Burdette
received a degree in Humanities with an emphasis in English from
WSU.
Assistant Coach Amy
Kronemann
 A two-time All-Frontier Conference and All-Region I
performer, Amy Kronemann, formerly Flaig, begins her fourth year as an assistant coach on Greeny's staff, and has been instrumental in the success the
Warriors enjoyed during the past three seasons. Her familiarity with
the program proves invaluable in on-court instruction, recruiting,
and administrative duties. She also serves as the Lewis-Clark State
Volleyball Camp Director and the President of the Snake River
Juniors Volleyball Club.
“Amy is very
talented and has the qualities that great coaches possess. She was
an outstanding player and can directly relate to the
student-athletes both on and off the court,” praised head coach Jen
Greeny. “Amy is a tremendous help in all aspects of the Lewis-Clark
State volleyball program.”
Kronemann played both basketball and volleyball at
Lewis-Clark State during her career from 2000-2003 and is the last
Warrior female athlete to participate in the two sports. She played
volleyball four years and also was a member of the basketball team
her final two seasons.
Kronemann, who is currently a first-grade teacher at
Lewiston’s Centennial Elementary School, came to Lewis-Clark State
in 2000 from Missoula’s Sentinel High School. She made an immediate
impact on the volleyball team and earned All-Frontier Conference
Freshman Team honors. She helped L-C to two regular-season
conference titles and two berths to the NAIA national tournament.
Kronemann led Lewis-Clark State in kills both her junior and senior
seasons and is eighth on the all-time kill list at 1,067. She also
is third on the all-time list in block assists with 239, tied for
fourth in
solo blocks with 59, and eighth in total blocks with 298.
On July 23,
2010, Amy married David Kroneman, who is both a Special
Education Instructor and soccer coach at
Lewiston High School.
|
