Our coaches are the driving forces behind Georgia State volleyball. Over the next several weeks, we will highlight each coach leading up to the highly anticipated 2021 campaign through our three-part "Faces of GSU Volleyball" series. In the second segment of the series, we will highlight another key piece to the program, assistant coach Chris Duenow. 

Chris Duenow was officially announced as an assistant coach for the Georgia State volleyball team on June 3, 2019 by head coach Sally Polhamus.

Duenow brought a wealth of experience to Atlanta as his 20-plus year coaching career involved a three year stint as the associate head coach at Concordia University in Irvine, California, three years as an assistant club director and head coach with Spiral Volleyball Club in Chandler, Ariz., three seasons as the top assistant coach at Cornell, seven seasons as the head coach at Concordia University in Portland, Ore., two years as an assistant at Virginia, one season as an assistant at Seattle and one season as an assistant at Washington. 

"What originally drew me to Georgia State was a combination of being excited about working with Sally (Polhamus) and Ashley (Beyer) to spark the great potential of this program, in addition to the vision and growth mindset of the athletic department and Georgia State as a University," said Duenow. "There are such great people and a truly genuine energy around athletics that I really wanted to be a part of the future here. Also, Atlanta!"

During Duenow's time at Concordia University in Irvine as the associate head coach, he helped lead the Eagles to the 2016 PacWest Conference Championship and a top-10 regional ranking in two of the program's first three seasons at the NCAA Division II level. He also helped develop ten All-Conference Selections, two All-Region picks and Concordia's first NCAA Division II All-American. 

"I love the mentoring aspect of coaching," said Duenow. "I am a teacher at heart, so I love fostering growth in our players and being a part of a staff that values developing strong, confident, thoughtful and impactful young women."

In Duenow's two seasons at Georgia State, he has had a substantial impact on the program. He currently serves as the recruiting coordinator for the program, which includes coordinating all aspects of identification, communication and evaluation of prospective student-athletes. He also works on the offensive side of things and specifically spends a majority of his time helping to develop the setters and middle blockers. 

Last season, Duenow was critical in helping Georgia State win seven of it's last nine matches, which included a four-match winning streak. Going into the 2021 campaign, the Panthers will look to build upon that stretch. 

"I think the highlight of last season for me was the growth the team had from the early part of the season to the home stretch of going 7-2 in our final nine matches," said Duenow. "We got to see both the upper class and first year players really turn a corner, both individually and collectively as a team, to where they were playing with such confidence in themselves and each other.  With it being such a challenging fall, the season could have gone any number of directions, so to see them come together and thrive was really rewarding and exciting for the future of Panther volleyball."
 

For news and notes, follow Georgia State volleyball on Instagram and Twitter (@GeorgiaStateVB).