After a highly successful career as a Cougar player, Jennifer Stinson returns to the Washington State volleyball program as an assistant coach.

"It's great to have somebody come back who knows the program and who has been a big part of all of the program's success," Fredrick said. "It is especially gratifying as a coach to bring in such a high quality athlete and then to have her turn around and become a part of your program."

Stinson was born December 2, 1976, at Freeport, Illinois. Her father, Jim, was her basketball and track coach throughout her highly-decorated prep career at Davenport, Washington. She was named one of Volleyball magazine's 1995 Fab Fifty Freshman recruits, but her high school athletic honors mostly came from her basketball career. Stinson finished her prep hoops career as the all-time leading scorer, for both boys and girls, in the state of Washington with 2,881 points. In addition, she was the all-time leading scorer in Washington state tournaments where the Gorillas won two state titles. She was a two-time Street and Smith All-American selection, was named Player of the Year by the Tacoma News Tribune, and Inland Empire Junior Female Athlete of the Year. Her track career included winning the state high jump championship three times.

The tall and lean Stinson proved to be a soft-spoken yet highly effective leader for the Cougar volleyball team where she played nearly four seasons. She also trained with the U.S. National volleyball team during the summer of 1997, but a knee injury kept her from playing at the World University Games.

Stinson's collegiate volleyball playing career came to an abrupt halt when she dislocated her left ankle in practice in late October of her senior year. She did not return to action for the volleyball team but had become the seventh Cougar in school history to nail 1,000 kills in a career, finishing with 1,006 before her injury. At that time, Stinson led WSU and was seventh in the Pac-10 with 4.22 kills per game, her 1.48 blocks per game was fifth in Pac-10, 19th nationally, and she had a .318 hitting percentage (seventh in Pac-10).

In the WSU all-time career rankings, Stinson stands seventh in kills (1,006), eighth in solo blocks (59), third in block assists (360), and fourth in total blocks (419).

Stinson joined the WSU basketball team her senior year but missed the first eight games while still recovering from her left ankle injury. She played in 17 games, averaged 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She suffered a stress fracture in her right foot near the end of the season and had to sit out the final two games. Stinson's injuries were a factor in her chosing not to return for her final season of basketball eligibility.

An outstanding student as well as athlete, Stinson was selected to the GTE/CoSIDA District VIII Academic All-America volleyball first team as a senior after being named to the second team as a junior. Stinson also was a three-time member of the Pac-10 All-Academic Volleyball Team and a three-year member of the Cougar All-Academic Team. Stinson was awarded an Eagle Hardware and Garden Academic Salute as WSU's Athlete of the Year for 1998-99. She was one of 13 student-athletes to receive a WSU Excellence in Academics Award in 1999.

She received her bachelors degree in education in December 1999, from WSU after completing her student teaching at Colton, Wash. She was a substitute teacher and coached in the Spokane area until accepting the position as assistant volleyball coach at WSU. She is the director and coach of the Palouse Juniors, a USA Volleyball Club team in the area.

Stinson is set to marry former Cougar and professional baseball player Burdette Greeny, September 30, 2000. She notes this date was selected prior to her accepting the position as the WSU volleyball assistant coach.

Jennifer Stinson Position: Assistant Coach