Cleveland State University Women's Volleyball

Voss, Cleveland State has become a perennial powerhouse in the Horizon League, achieving success on and off the court year-after-year. Throughout his tenure at Cleveland State, Voss has guided the Vikings to three Horizon League Regular Season titles and three Horizon League Tournament crowns. Voss has also led Cleveland State to six 20-win seasons, and enters the 2016 campaign with 291 career victories with the Vikings - just three wins shy of becoming the winningest coach in program history. Voss, who is the reigning Horizon League Coach of the Year, picked up his fourth coach of the year honor after guiding the Vikings to a 26-7 record last season. The 2015 campaign was capped off by Cleveland States third trip to the NCAA Tournament and an AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year accolade for Voss. During his 16-year stint at Cleveland State, Voss has mentored 17 first team all-league selections, 15 all-newcomer team selections, 11 all-region honorees, and seven All-Americans. Among these honorees are returners Grace Kauth, Alexis Middlebrooks, and Rachel Stover - who will lead a talented group on the court during the upcoming season. Under Voss guidance, the Vikings have excelled in the classroom as well, earning the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award five times over the last 10 seasons. The team has also been honored at Cleveland States annual John Konstantinos Athletic Academic Honors Luncheon, picking up the Best of the Best Award following the 2007 and 2008 seasons for maintaining the highest GPA among the departments 16 teams. Voss, who enters the 2016 season with a record of 291-189 at Cleveland State, is just nine wins shy of recording his 300 career victory with the Vikings. Voss would become the first coach in program history to achieve the feat, and just the second active coach in the Horizon League to reach the milestone at their current school. Voss continued dedication to the Cleveland State volleyball program has led the Vikings to become one of the top teams in the state of Ohio, and a Horizon League Championship contender year-in and year-out. Over the last nine seasons the Vikings have made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to top-seeded USC last year after capturing their third Horizon League Regular season and Tournament title. Cleveland States second NCAA Tournament appearance came during the 2012 season, when the Vikings captured the Horizon League Tournament title and earned the leagues automatic bid into the tournament field. The Vikings were sent to Kansas, where they notched their first-ever set victory in the NCAA Tournament. Voss and the Vikings picked up their first NCAA Tournament bid during the 2007 season, when Cleveland State swept through the Horizon League Tournament to claim its first-ever championship. The Vikings made their first appearance on a national stage against Albany, kicking off a string of three championships for Voss and the Vikings. Since Cleveland States first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2007, Voss has led the Vikings to a 182-92 record (.664) including a 95-43 (.688) mark in Horizon League matches. Throughout this nine-year stretch, Voss has turned Cleveland State into a prominent name among Division I volleyball teams. The climb to be a championship contender year-after-year was not an easy one though. 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. 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. Since then, Voss has been at the helm for 12 winning seasons with the Vikings making Cleveland State one of just two Horizon League teams to have at least 12 winning seasons during this span. Voss recorded another program first during the 2004 season, leading the Vikings to the Horizon League Championship match for the first time in program history. Over the next 11 seasons, Voss has guided the Vikings back to the title match six times and has been part of three championship teams during this stretch (2007, 2012, 2015) - becoming one of just two active coaches with multiple league titles under their name. 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 didnt 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 teams 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 mens varsity volleyball team. He ranks seventh 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 womens squad under head coach Jim Stone. Voss and his wife Margo have two daughters, London (16) and Laken (12), and two sons, Sterling (21) and Denver (18). The family resides in Amherst, Ohio.

Don Gromala will begin his third season as part of the Cleveland State coaching staff during the 2025 season, serving as an assistant coach for the Vikings. Gromala joined the Viking coaching staff with more than 15 years of coaching experience, including 10 years as a head coach.  Most recently, Gromala served as the associate director for NOVA Juniors Volleyball, as well as the head coach for the 18-1s and 16-1s. At NOVA, Gromala was involved in all facets of the club, including practice planning, organizing camps and clinics, and assisting with marketing and promotions.  Prior to his time at NOVA, Gromala was the head coach at Kent State for 10 seasons from 2012 through 2021. During his tenure at KSU, Gromala helped the Flashes capture the 2015 MAC East Championship, notch 13 All-MAC honors – including the 2015 MAC Defensive Player of the Year – and sign a pair of top-100 recruiting classes.  Off the court, Gromala's teams combined for nine AVCA Team Academic awards, 66 Academic All-MAC Recognitions and one Academic All-American.  Before joining the Flashes, Gromala served as an assistant coach at Ohio State for four seasons, where he was part of two NCAA Sweet 16 teams in 2010 and 2011. During his time with the Buckeyes, Gromala oversaw the recruiting efforts, helping to bring in three Prepvb top-25 recruiting classes and five Fab 50 recruits.  Gromala got his start in coaching at Ohio University, where he was a two-year graduate assistant and two-year assistant coach for the Bobcats, helping OU to the 2005 NCAA Round of 16.  Gromala also has experience with the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Ohio Valley Region High Performance and the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association.