MORGANTOWN — New WVU volleyball coach Jen Greeny moved over 3,000 miles and left her alma mater to come to Morgantown last December.
“The people of Morgantown have been fantastic and extremely supportive and helpful; it’s been a wonderful transition so far,” said Greeny, who coached Washington State for the past 13 seasons.
Greeny and her family moved over 3,000 miles for her to have this opportunity, and her husband Burdette Greeny is the associate head coach for the team. Burdette Greeny has 16 years of coaching experience and was named the associate head volleyball coach at West Virginia shortly after his wife was hired.
“Morgantown has been great,” Greeny said. “Coming from over 3,000 miles away I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.”
She and her husband have two daughters as well. Their youngest, Leah, will attend Morgantown High School in the fall.
“Our youngest daughter is going to be a freshman at Morgantown High and has had a great transition to the move,” Greeny said. “She was able to come in the spring and meet a lot of people.”
Greeny’s other daughter, Lauren, plays women’s golf at Montana State University.
Greeny came to WVU this winter from Washington State where she spent 13 seasons and led the team to three-consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins.
A native of Davenport, Wash., Greeny brought Cougar volleyball back into the national spotlight with eight-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2016-23 and 12 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America selections. The Cougars finished in the AVCA Top 25 six times during her time at WSU, including the past four seasons.
As a volleyball student-athlete at WSU, she became the seventh player in Washington State history to reach 1,000 career kills and was a three-time All-Pac-10 Conference selection. Greeny still ranks eighth in career block assists (360), fourth in total blocks (419) and eighth in solo blocks (59).
In past years, WVU volleyball has struggled and had a record of 9-22 in 2023. Greeny hopes to make a positive change for the team.
“We’re really trying to develop the fundamentals and I think the main thing is a lot of our teams are known to play really hard with a lot of passion and a no-quit attitude,” Greeny said.
With the season starting this month, the team has been working hard all summer to improve their skills.
“The girls are great young women, they work hard in the classroom and they want to work hard in the gym as well,” Greeny said.
The Mountaineers’ first match of the season under Greeny will be Aug. 30 away at the Wake Forest Invitational against Navy. WVU will play in two other tournaments before its home opener on Sept. 25 against Cincinnati.
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