Chuck Voss

Chuck Voss

  • Previous College:
    Ohio State, '94
  • Position:
    Head Coach
  • Last College:
    13th Year

During his 12 seasons as the head volleyball coach at Cleveland State, Chuck Voss has meticulously put his stamp on the program and has constructed it into a perennial championship contender by recruiting gifted student-athletes who possess agility, athleticism, intelligence, size, strength and power.

It is these qualities that Voss and his staff look for while recruiting student-athletes for the program and why Voss has been able to build the Vikings into one of the top programs in the Horizon League.

Voss has led the Vikings to the Horizon League semifinals in each of the last eight seasons, one of just two schools in the league to accomplish the feat. In addition, CSU has played in five league title matches during that span, winning the 2007 tournament title, the first in program history.

Although the accomplishments to date have been eye-popping, Voss still has his sights set even higher. Namely, sustaining the success of the program, recapturing the Horizon League title and returning to the NCAA Tournament.

For the fourth time under Voss the Vikings reached the 20-win mark during 2011, finishing the season with a 22-8 record. CSU also made an appearance in the Horizon League Championship match for the fourth time out of the last five years, coming up short against top-seeded Milwaukee.

Two years ago, a youthful squad raced out to the best start in program history, winning 10 straight matches en route to a 22-7 finish. The success enjoyed during 2010 came on the heels of the first Horizon League regular season title in program history in 2009 when the Vikings narrowly missed out on a bid to the NCAA tournament by falling in the league title match.

The 2009 season was not a total loss, however, as the Vikings won 26 matches, the sixth most in school history and the most wins by a CSU team in 26 years. In addition, the 13 league wins tied the school record, while CSU also put together a 12-match win streak, the second longest streak in program history.

For good measure, Voss, who picked up his 200th career win when he led the Vikings to a 3-0 sweep over Youngstown State during the regular season finale, was honored as the Horizon League Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

After getting the 2008 season off to a rough start, Voss helped the Vikings turn their season around, winning four of their final six matches heading into the league championship.

Hosting the tournament in Woodling Gym, the sixth-seeded Vikigns rode that momentum all the way to the league title match before bowing out, becoming the second highest seed to ever reach the finals.

The 2007 season proved to be on of the most memorable in program history as the Vikings won their first-ever Horizon League Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, another program first.

After winning a school-record 13 league matches and finishing as the regular season runner-up, Voss guided second-seeded CSU to wins over Youngstown State, Wright State and Valparaiso in the league championship in Milwaukee. The Vikings lost just two sets the entire tournament to claim the title.

Following a 3-1 victory over Valparaiso in the league title match, CSU enjoyed a week of celebration before learning that they would travel to Penn State for an opening round NCAA Championship match against Albany.

Despite losing to the Great Danes, Voss and the Vikings had finally broken through on the national stage and enjoyed a record-setting season with several honors and accolades.

The Vikings finished the 2007 campaign with a 23-9 record, marking the ninth time that CSU reached the 20-win mark, but the first for Voss after a pair of 18-win seasons and two 19-win campaigns.

The climb to be a championship contender year in and year out was not an easy one.

When Voss arrived in Cleveland to take over the program in 2000, the Vikings had not enjoyed a winning season in 17 years and were coming off a season in which they won just eight matches and were just 3-9 in the league.

But that did not deter Voss who guided CSU to a respectable 19-36 mark during his first two seasons at the helm. Once given a chance to bring in his recruits and instill his system, the program began to become established.

It was in 2002 that Voss really began to show what he could do on the sidelines, leading CSU to its first winning season (18-13) in 19 years.

Prior to the 2007 season, Voss' most successful run at CSU came in 2004 when he led the Vikings to the Horizon League Championship match for the first time in program history.

Although the Vikings fell to Loyola in five sets, Voss' blueprint of constructing a championship program was beginning to take form and people were starting to learn about Cleveland State volleyball.

In 2005, Voss coached the Vikings to a second place finish in the Horizon League by winning a then school-record 11 league matches and leading the Vikings back to the Horizon League semifinals.

CSU finished the season with 19 wins and Voss was honored as the Horizon League Coach of the Year by his conference peers, becoming the first CSU volleyball coach to earn that distinction.

A season later in 2006, Voss constructed another 19-win season and a runner-up finish in the regular season standings.

Voss ranks second in career wins at CSU, boasting a 12-year record of 212-148. During his tenure at CSU Voss has mentored 11 first team all-league selections, 11 all-newcomer team selections, seven all-region honorees and five All-Americans.

Under Voss' guidance, the Vikings have excelled in the classroom as well, earning the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award in five of the last six seasons. In 2008, the squad maintained a 3.58 grade point average and won the `Best of the Best Award' for the second straight year at the John Konstantinos Athletic Academic Honors Luncheon for maintaining the highest GPA of the 17 teams in the Cleveland State Department of Athletics.

Voss came to Cleveland State after serving as an assistant coach at Missouri for three seasons. While in Columbia, he was responsible for recruiting, travel planning, preparing scouting reports, academics, camps and other various day-to-day coaching duties.

While his recruiting efforts didn't necessarily show up in the win column during his three-year tenure, Missouri went 24-7 in 2000 (Voss' first year in Cleveland), won 14 matches in the always-tough Big XII, was nationally ranked for part of the year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history - all with the players that Voss helped sign.

Prior to his stint at Missouri, Voss served as the head coach at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1995-96. While there, he improved the team's record from 10-21 to 23-15, earning 1996 NAIA Midwest Classic Conference Coach of the Year honors.

A 1994 graduate of Ohio State with a degree in physical education, Voss was a two-year starter as a setter and a captain on the men's varsity volleyball team.

He ranks sixth all-time at OSU with 2,836 assists and fifth with a career average of 13.13 assists per game. He was one of only 48 participants invited to both the 1990 and `91 United States Olympic Festivals.

After graduation, Voss got his coaching career started by spending a year as a student assistant for the Buckeye women's squad under head coach Jim Stone.

Voss and his wife Margo have two daughters, London (12) and Laken (8), and two sons, Sterling (17) and Denver (14). The family resides in Amherst, Ohio.