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One of only eight active NCAA Division I volleyball head coaches to record 675 wins in her career, Karen Chisum begins here 30th season as the head volleyball coach and sixth year as an assistant athletic director at Texas State. Last season, the Bobcats won their sixth conference championship under her leadership as they won the 1986 Gulf Star Conference crown and Southland Conference titles in 1991, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008.
Chisum also led Texas State to the Southland Conference Tournament championship in 1991, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2007 to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament each year. They also finished as the runner-up team in last year's SLC tournament. Chisum has led Texas State to six NCAA Tournaments overall. The other appearance came in 1986, when Texas State captured the Gulf Star regular season and GSC Tournament championships.
For her merits, Chisum has been selected the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1991, 2000 and 2003 after receiving the same honor in the Gulf Star Conference in 1986.
A Texas State alumnus, Chisum enters the 2009 campaign with a 675-434-3 record during her 29 seasons as head coach, ranking her eighth among active Division I coaches for career wins. Her 650th career win came with a three-game sweep over McNeese State in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament on Nov. 16, 2007. That began Texas State's run to the tournament crown. Chisum earned her 600th career win with a sweep when the Bobcats defeated Morgan State in the first match of the season on Sept. 2, 2005.
Chisum has coached over 50 athletes who have received All-Conference honors with the Bobcats, including four during each of the last two years. Last season, Jessica Weynand, Emily Jones Wilkes and Amy Weigle earned All-SLC First-Team honors, while Lawrencia Brown earned Second-Team honors for the third straight season. Chisum has coached 18 All-SLC First-Team players during her career. Overall, 77 of her players have received All-Conference honors, 65 of which have been in the Southland Conference.
She also coached three Conference Players of the Year performers. Kim Wells-Lauwers won the award for the Gulf Star Conference in 1986, while Stephanie Winn-Lane and Shenequa Bedford were named Southland Conference Players of the Year in 1991 and 2000, respectively.
Chisum has also tutored three SLC Newcomer of the Year selections, as Kristy Braun-Rioux won the honor in 1991, Krisha Neimann-Crosley in 1993 and Jennifer Dallao in 1999.
Several of Texas State's players have garnered All-Conference honors in multiple seasons. In 1997, Crosley became just the fourth player in Southland Conference history and first Texas State player to earn All-Conference honors all four years. She earned All-SLC First-Team honors as a freshman and sophomore and was a Second-Team selection as both a junior and senior.
Krystal Kolkhorst was named to the ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-America Third-Team, the SLC Setter of the Year and SLC Tournament MVP in 2004, and Elizabeth Nwoke was named the 2005 MVP.
As proud as she is of part postseason honors for accomplishments on the court, Chisum says that it is equally important that her players excel in the classroom and as a citizen.
Her devotion to academic success for her players is evident. A total of 33 Bobcats have earned SLC All-Academic honors 51 times under Chisum's direction, including Jones Wilkes and Weigle earning First Team selection in 2008. It marks the second straight year Jones Wilkes has earned SLC All-Academic First-Team honors. In 2004, Kolkhorst earned the league's Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
As a squad, the volleyball team has won the Emmitt P. Shelton Academic Excellence Award three times, including both 2004-05 and 2005-06. The award is given annually to the top Texas State men's and women's athletic teams with the highest cumulative grade point average among Bobcat teams.
Chisum's career as a volleyball coach began as an assistant at Goodnight Middle School in San Marcos. She moved up in the coaching ranks when she was named an assistant at San Marcos High School before becoming the head coach at New Braunfels High School. Chisum led the Unicorns to a Class 3-A State Runner-Up finish in 1976, coaching former Texas volleyball and basketball standout Nell Fortner, who later served as head coach of the 2000 USA Olympic team that won a Gold Medal and the WNBA's Indianapolis Fever, and is currently the head coach at Auburn. In 1980, Chisum was named Texas State's fifth head volleyball coach.
Chisum's influence in volleyball reaches far beyond Texas State. She serves as a member of both the NCAA and American Volleyball Coaches Association voting committees for regional and national rankings. She also has been a teaching clinician for various volleyball programs and camps throughout the United States.
In 1994, Chisum became the first female to be accepted for membership in the "T" Association's Hall of Honor. During her intercollegiate days at Texas State, Chisum played on the softball and tennis teams. Induction into the Hall of Honor is the highest award a letter winner at Texas State can receive.
"It was a great honor and a personal highlight for me," reflected Chisum on her induction.
"The two major reasons why people are chosen to receive the honor closely parallel how I feel about Texas State," Chisum said. "Either you are recognized for your performance as a student-athlete or for what you have accomplished since graduation.
"I am proud to be affiliated with a group like that. Now, as the first female inductee, I am proud to open the door for other women. I've always been inspired by people who give back to the university."
She also co-authored a book titled Developing a Successful Volleyball Program with former Bobcat volleyball player Stephanie Scott Jordan.
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