Chuck Voss Position: Head Coach Experience: 10th Year Alma Mater: Ohio State, '93

During his nine seasons as the head volleyball coach at Cleveland State, Chuck Voss has meticulously put his stamp on the program and constructed it into a perennial championship contender by recruiting gifted athletes who possess agility, athleticism, intelligence, size, strength and power.

It's these qualities that Voss and his staff look for while recruiting student-athletes for the program and why Voss has been able to build the Vikings into one of the top programs in the Horizon League.

Last season, Voss' squad got off to a rough start against a brutal schedule of top teams, but it wound up paying dividends in the end when the sixth-seeded Vikings became the second highest seed to reach the Horizon League Championship match. Despite a five-set loss to Milwaukee in the finals, it marked the sixth staight year that CSU advanced to the semifinals and the third time in the last six years that the Vikings played in the championship match.

CSU entered last season with high expectations, having won its first-ever Horizon League Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, another program first, in 2007.

After winning a school-record 13 league matches and finishing as the regular season runner-up, Voss guided second-seeded CSU to wins over Youngstown State, Wright State and Valparaiso in the league championship in Milwaukee. The Vikings lost just two sets the entire tournament to claim the title.

Following a 3-1 victory over Valparaiso in the league title match, CSU enjoyed a week of celebration before learning that they would travel to Penn State for an opening round NCAA Championship match against Albany.

Despite losing to the Great Danes, the Vikings had finally broken through on the national stage and enjoyed a record-setting season with several honors and accolades. Three of Voss' players, Amy Benz, Beth

Greulich and Mel Snyder were named to the first team All-Horizon League, equaling the 2005 squad for most players named to the first team in program history. Meanwhile, Benz and Snyder earned spots on the honorable mention AVCA All-Region team, the third and fourth players in school history to garner selections to the team.

In addition, Benz was the fourth CSU player in the last six seasons to earn Newcomer of the Year accolades, joining Alisa Hatcher (2002), Jenni Ramminger (2005) and Greulich (2006).

Benz was also one of just 15 freshman in the country to earn a spot on Collegiate Volleyball Update's Rising Stars team, an honor reserved for the top freshman in the nation.

The Vikings finished the 2007 campaign with a 23-9 record, the most wins by a CSU team since the 1983 squad won 29 matches. It was the ninth time the Vikings reached the 20-win mark, but the first for Voss after a pair of 18-win seasons and two 19-win campaigns.

The climb to be a championship contender year in and year out was not easy. When Voss arrived in Cleveland to take over the program in 2000, the Vikings had not enjoyed a winning season in 17 years and were coming off a season in which they won just eight matches.

But that did not deter Voss who guided CSU to a respectable 19-36 mark during his first two seasons at the helm. Once given a chance to bring in his recruits, the program was established.

It was in 2002 that Voss really began to show what he could do on the sidelines, leading CSU to its first winning season (18-13) in 19 years.

Prior to the 2007 season, Voss' most successful run at CSU came in 2004 when he led the Vikings to the Horizon League Championship match for the first time in program history.

Although the Vikings fell to Loyola in five games, Voss' blueprint of constructing a championship program was beginning to take form and people were starting to learn about Cleveland State volleyball.

In 2005, Voss coached the Vikings to a second place finish in the Horizon League by winning a then school-record 11 league matches and leading the Vikings back to the Horizon League semifinals.

CSU finished the season with 19 wins and Voss was honored as the Horizon League Coach of the Year by his conference peers, becoming the first CSU volleyball coach to earn that distinction.

A season later in 2006, Voss constructed another 19-win season and a runner-up finish in the regular season standings. Voss ranks second in career wins at CSU, boasting a nine-year record of 142-125 (.532).

During his tenure at CSU, Voss has mentored 14 first team all-league selections, nine all-newcomer team selections, four all-region honorees and the only two All-Americans in school history in Jamie Bouyer (2004) and Nickole Kennedy (2005).

Under Voss' guidance, the Vikings have excelled in the classroom earning the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award in each of the last five seasons.

In 2008, the squad maintained a 3.58 grade point average and won the Best of the Best Award for the second straight year at the John Konstantinos Athletic Academic Honors Luncheon for maintaining the highest grade point average of the 17 teams in the Cleveland State Department of Athletics.

Fifteen of the 16 student-athletes on the squad had a GPA of 3.0 or better and were also honored at the luncheon.

Voss came to Cleveland State after serving as an assistant coach at Missouri for three seasons. While in Columbia, he was responsible for recruiting, planning travel, preparing scouting reports, academics, camps and other various day-to-day coaching duties.

The year before Voss arrived in Columbia, the Tigers went winless in 28 matches. While his recruiting efforts didn't necessarily show up in the win column during his three-year tenure, Missouri went 24-7 in 2000 (Voss' first year in Cleveland), won 14 matches in the always-tough Big XII, was nationally ranked for part of the year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history - all with the players he helped sign.

Prior to his stint at Missouri, Voss served as the head coach at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1995-96. While there, he improved the team's record from 10-21 to 23-15, earning 1996 NAIA Midwest Classic Conference Coach of the Year honors.

A 1993 graduate of Ohio State with a degree in physical education, Voss was a two-year starter as a setter and a captain on the men's varsity volleyball team. He ranks fourth all-time at OSU with 2,836 assists and fifth with a career average of 13.13 assists per game. He was one of only 48 participants invited to both the 1990 and `91 United States Olympic Festivals.

After graduation, Voss got his coaching career started by spending a year as a student assistant for the Buckeye women's squad under head coach Jim Stone. Voss and his wife Margo have two daughters, London (8) and Laken (4), and two sons, Sterling (13) and Denver (10). The family resides in Wellington, Ohio.