WSU volleyball coach Jen Greeny named to WIAA Hall of Fame

Jan 11, 2023 - 3:00 PM

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Long before Jen Greeny was leading WSU volleyball to new heights as a head coach, she (then known as Jen Stinson) was leading WSU volleyball to new heights as a player. But, before that, she was doing the same thing for her high school as a three-sport star in Davenport, Washington.

On Tuesday, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced that Greeny has been voted into the WIAA Hall of Fame Class of 2022. During her time with Davenport, Greeny (née Stinson) broke records for the Gorillas. Not only was she an all-state performer in both volleyball and high jump, she also set the state record for career points scored as a basketball player, a record that she still holds to this day.

She continued that dominant run when she accepted a volleyball scholarship at Washington State. During her Cougar career she racked up 1,000 career kills, was named to the All-Pac-10 team three times and led the team to their first ever Elite Eight appearance. Shortly after her playing career ended in 1998, Greeny joined the WSU coaching staff as an assistant for five season. In 2007, she took the position as head coach at nearby Lewis-Clark State College leading the Warriors to a 112-24 overall record and winning Frontier Conference Coach of the Year in each and every season she was at the helm.

In 2011, she made her return to Pullman to become head coach at Washington State. Since then, she has turned the Cougars into a quiet powerhouse in the Pac-12. Greeny has led WSU to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has tallied 209 victories as WSU head coach putting her second all-time in program history.

At WSU she became the seventh player in WSU history with 1,000 career kills. 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. In her time as a student-athlete, WSU ranked as high as fifth in the nation and made the first trip to the NCAA Tournament elite eight in program history. Greeny re-joined the Cougars as an assistant coach following her playing days, helping WSU to its second elite eight appearance from the sidelines in 2002. She has since taken her alma mater to a program-record seven-consecutive tournament appearances (2016-22) and is second all-time with 209 head coaching victories at WSU.

But despite all of her accolades at WSU, it’s Greeny’s high school career that earned her this honor. As mentioned, she was a star in track & field and on the volleyball court, but she was a game changer on the hardwood. When she left Davenport in 1995, she not only held the state record for career points with 421, she also held records for field goals made (163), field goals attempted (305), free throws made (90), free throws attempted (130) and rebounds (212). During her four years, the Gorillas won the state crown twice and finished in the top-three two more times.

With the induction, Greeny will join WSU greats like quarterback Drew Bledsoe (Walla Walla), former WSU basketball all-time leading scorer Jeanne Eggart Helfer (Walla Walla), quarterback Jack Thompson (Evergreen High School in Seattle) and WSU Rose Bowl great Mel Hein (Burlington). Greeny will be inducted alongside ten other honorees from the class of 2021 and 2022 during a lunch ceremony on May 3rd. The event will take place at the Renton Pavilion Event Center and tickets will go on sale this March.

Former three-sport athlete Greeny named to WIAA Hall of Fame - Washington State University Athletics
Washington State Women's Volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny was officially voted into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2022 as announced by the state's high school athletics' governing body Tuesday.

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