Kreunen is new head volleyball coach

Josh Kreunen was recently hired as the new head girls volleyball coach.

Photo by Rongi Yost

Josh Kreunen will coach the Outlaws' powerful volleyball program.

He brings with him a wealth of personal and coaching experience. Kreunen started playing club volleyball when he was a sophomore in high school and played through high school, college, and beyond. While in high school, Josh played as a setter and outside hitter, and was voted to the All Regional Team as a setter his senior year. He graduated from Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington, and went on to play Division 1 volleyball at University California Santa Barbara (UCSB). During his tenure at UCSB, the team was ranked ninth nationally.

He continued to play competitively indoors, and on the beach. He had the honor of playing at the USA Volleyball Nationals six times in his playing career, the most recent in the Men's 45 and over division in 2019 where he took fourth place.

Kreunen began his coaching career in 1999 as a graduate assistant for the men and women's teams at UCSB. From there he coached high school volleyball for the next 15 years. He was voted Coach of the Year in the Greater St. Helens League four different times while he was coach at Union High School.

In 2013, Kreunen moved to Denver and coached at Regis University for four years, while he also coached club volleyball, which he has done for the past 11 years. He led his Denver Volleyball Club to a 10th place finish at Nationals and 10 of his players went on to play at D2 and D3 schools.

This past year, Kreunen coached two teams with the Athena Volleyball Club in Hillsboro.

Kreunen told The Nugget he had plans to move to Bend in October to be close to family and friends, and also to continue coaching Athena volleyball with its expansion in the area. As he got more involved with the Central Oregon volleyball community, he heard of the opening in Sisters for a head volleyball coach. He looked into the program, talked with several people, was impressed with Sisters' volleyball history, and decided he wanted to be a part of it.

Kreunen went through the interview process, and was immediately hired.

Kreunen told The Nugget that his philosophy is that "great athletic programs and great teams are based on the quality of people involved, more so than the quality of athletic talent." He added that there's purpose beyond yourself, and that is the team. He stated that "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

He shared his goals for this year's Sisters High School volleyball team.

"Because of Sisters volleyball history, the immediate goal is to win another state title," said Kreunen. "Goals along the way are to continue to improve the program through strong teamwork, smart volleyball, and competing at a high level every time we set foot on the court."