Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Women's Volleyball

Born and raised in the heart of the Inland Empire, Kurt Vlasich attended Claremont High School where he was part of the school's charter program, and has grown his local legacy to include an NCAA Division III national championship at CMS in 2017 and a career record of 333-73 through his first 13 seasons. The 2017 national title squad finished the year with a school-record 31 wins, finishing 31-5 overall and 15-1 in the SCIAC. After leading CMS to a 22-7 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Second Round in 2024, Vlasich now has 11 straight seasons of 22 or more wins, and nine straight seasons where he has guided the Athenas to at least a share of the regular season SCIAC title. Over his career, he has compiled an .859 winning percentage in SCIAC competition (177-29). Vlasich has earned at least one Coach of the Year Award in seven different seasons, including the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2021, when he tied a program record with 31 wins (31-2) and reached the NCAA Semifinals. He also captured both the SCIAC and AVCA West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2018, and has been named the AVCA West Region Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015, and the SCIAC Coach of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2022.  Vlasich began coaching at CMS Volleyball in 2002 as an assistant for Dianna Graves, and was a fixture as the head assistant coach for nearly a decade. Over the next nine seasons, Vlasich helped build a team that made significant improvements from year to year, and finished in 2010 with an overall record of 18-11 and a 3rd place finish in SCIAC. In 2011, Vlasich was named interim coach of the CMS Volleyball program, and guided the CMS Athenas to a 19-11 record overall with a 10-4 conference record helping CMS make the SCIAC playoffs. In 2012, Vlasich was named head coach for CMS and 2012 saw similar production, finishing with a 17-10 overall record and a tie for 4th place in the SCIAC with Occidental College. 2013 turned out to be historic for the Athenas, as Vlasich led the team to a 25-7 record and an appearance in the NCAA tournament.   After a stellar 2013 season, Vlasich led the Athenas to a 27-7 record in 2014 and a second-place finish in the SCIAC. In the 2014 NCAA tournament, CMS won the NCAA Western Regional Championship and competed in the 2014 Volleyball Championships in Newport News, Virginia as one of the "Elite 8" teams. The Athenas finished the 2014 season ranked ninth nationally by the AVCA. CMS also stayed in the AVCA top 25 national rankings for the duration of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, making it the longest streak of rankings in program history at the time. In 2013, Kurt Vlasich was named the AVCA Division III West Region Coach of the Year, and in 2014 was named SCIAC Coach of the Year. Vlasich helped form a talented group of players at Claremont High School, and started a men’s program with the Wolfpack in 1993. He played as a varsity middle blocker in 1993 and 1994 while helping the pack go into CIF both seasons. Vlasich went on to play for Pepperdine University from 1995-1998 under Marv Dunphy where he had successful seasons as both a training setter and a serving specialist during the 1997 season. He graduated from Pepperdine University in 1999 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Vlasich began his coaching experience when he came back to Claremont High in 1995, 1996, and 1997 as a volunteer assistant coach and setting coach with Don Braunecker. He helped train and develop setters for Claremont High School and worked with other players on a individual basis. Vlasich became JV Head Coach and Varsity assistant in 2001 for the Claremont Men’s program at CHS where he helped win two JV tournaments, and lead CHS varsity into the CIF playoffs. After the 2001 season, Vlasich began coaching in the club ranks and coached the Foothill Volleyball Club Men’s 18-1 team. In the summer of 2001, Vlasich brought a team with below .500 average to over .500 and a substantial improvement at JO’s leading the 18-1 program to flight brackets. The following summer, Vlasich coached the Foothill Boys 18-1 program into the Bronze bracket at Junior Olympics, where his team captured first place in the bronze bracket (12th overall). In 2002, Vlasich began coaching for an upstart volleyball club in the Inland Empire called Club West Volleyball. From 2003 to 2011, Vlasich was the club director for Club West Volleyball, and also coached at the 17’s and 18’s age groups.  Vlasich has coached the Club West 18-1 and 17-1 teams for 11 seasons, and made Junior Olympic appearances in 10 of his 12 seasons. Most notably have been the his last four seasons, where his 18-1 team has made four consecutive 18 Open appearances, and included a seventh-place finish nationally in 2011.  In 2014, Vlasich was part of a team of coaches and administrators who formed a new volleyball club called "Forza 1 Volleyball Club" based in Temecula and Ontario.  Coach Vlasich is married to Cindi Vlasich, and they have two daughters named Rylan and Arden. They currently reside in Upland, California.

Kylie Thomas enters her first season as an assistant coach with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball program in 2025.  Thomas was a setter at Division II power CSU San Bernardino, where she served as a team captain as a senior and had a career-high 381 assists and 157 digs. She was a CCAA Academic Honor Roll selection, and earned the program's Culture Champion Award as a sophomore. In addition to playing volleyball as an undergraduate, Thomas also served as a 17 Premier Assistant Coach with the Rancho Valley Volleyball Club in San Bernardino, Her work there included leading the development of the setters, and providing individual training for the athletes.  Thomas graduated from CSU San Bernardino this May with a degree in child development.  

Xenia Villagomez enters her first season as an assistant coach with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team in 2025.  Villagomez joins the Athenas after graduating from SCIAC rival Whittier in 2024 with a degree in kinesiology and nutritional science and a minor in biology. She was a three-year captain of the volleyball team, and earned second-team All-SCIAC distinction for the poets.  In addition to playing volleyball, she also served as an athletic administration and coaching intern at Whittier, as well as a Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists (PAADS) intern.  During her playing days, Villagomez also picked up seven years of various coaching experience at Santiago High School and with the Bravo Volleyball Club, working with youth athletes from ages 10-18 (both boys and girls). She was also a tutor and student-athlete peer mentor at Whittier.

Megan Kronschnabel enters her first season as an assistant coach with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball program in 2024-25.  Kronschnabel joins the Athenas with nine years of coaching experience, most recently serving as the head coach at Waubonsee Community College in Western Springs, Illinois since July of 2022. Simultaneously, she has coached for the 1st Alliance Volleyball Club since September of 2022, primarily for the 17s age group.  Before her experience at Waubonsee, Kronschnabel was a fixture in the Las Vegas volleyball community, as both a player and coach. She served as a coach and club manager for the Las Vegas Volleyball Academy for six years from 2015-21 while attending UNLV from 2017-21, and then coached the Tstreet Volleyball Club from 2021-22 in both Las Vegas and Irvine, California. For one year (2018-19), she also served as an assistant coach at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, her alma mater.  Kronschabel graduated from UNLV in May of 2021 with a degree in kinesiology.