Florida State University Men's Volleyball

Poole inherited the Florida State volleyball program in the summer of 2008, he took over a team that had failed to reach the 20-win plateau in five-straight seasons and hadnt been to the NCAA Tournament since 2002. It was a program looking for answers; a program looking to get back to the winning ways it had grown accustomed to in the 1980s and early 90s. However, since the beginning of the 2009 season, when Poole began overseeing the scheduling process, the Seminoles have gone head-to-head with 33 non-conference opponents that were ranked in the top 25 of the AVCA polls. By facing those upper echelon programs, Poole has established Florida States schedule as one of the most difficult in the nation for the last seven years. According to richkern.com the Seminoles strength of schedule has ranked seventh, eighth and fourth in succession in each of the last three seasons. By the close of the 2015 season Poole further cemented his name among the best coaches in the sport as he led the Seminoles to at least 25 wins for the fifth consecutive campaign. Along with surpassing 200 wins in his Florida State career Poole climbed to seventh among active coaches in NCAA history with 761 career wins. The 2015 season, which culminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at in-state rival Florida, was highlighted by the five-member senior class which included Caroline Dadowski, Laura Dadowski, Karlie Hauer, Mercedes Vaughn and Nicole Walch. Under the direction of Poole, that quintuplet capped off one of the best four-year runs in program history, brandishing a 109-23 overall record, including a 54-2 mark in Tully Gymnasium, and along the way finished 68-10 in ACC action. Pooles continued development of Nicole Walch witnessed the Stuart, Fla., native become the first player in the rally scoring era to crack the programs top 10 list in kills (1,466) after driving home a team-high 459 kills. By leading the team in eight major categories, Walch was a unanimous selection for All-ACC First Team and was named Senior CLASS Top 10 Finalist, AVCA All-East Region Team and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American. Pooles program also drew individual honors for Sarah Burrington (AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, AVCA All-East Region Team, All-ACC First Team); Brianne Burkert (All-ACC Freshman Team); Katie Horton (All-ACC Second Team); Milica Kubura (AVCA Honorable Mention All-East Region Team, All-ACC Second Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Team) and Hailey Luke (CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Team). In 2014, the Seminoles continued to produce history, riding a 24-0 match winning streak while climbing to a program and ACC best AVCA ranking of No. 3 as four athletes captured AVCA All-America honors en route to the second consecutive Sweet 16. In 2013, Poole helped the Seminoles to a school-record setting six AVCA top-25 wins (Kentucky, Michigan, Western Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Florida), including two of the biggest wins in school history. On December 6, 2013, Poole guided the Seminoles to a 3-2, NCAA Second Round victory over No. 6 Florida lifting them to the NCAA Champaign Regional Semifinal. It marked the first time since 1990, FSU defeated UF inside the OConnell Center. Florida State also picked up a 3-2 win over No. 7 Michigan on Sept. 14, 2013. The Seminoles finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an overall record of 26-8, while finishing the year ranked 11th in the AVCA poll and 12th in the RPI. FSU was led by AVCA All-America honorable mention players, Ashley Neff, Nicole Walch and Elise Walch. Neff earned All-ACC First Team honors, while both Walch sisters and Katie Mosher were awarded All-Second Team accolades. On Nov. 17th in a 3-0 victory over Notre Dame, Poole picked up his 700th career win, becoming one of the winningest active division I coaches in the country as he climbed to 10th. In 2012, the Seminoles won their third Atlantic Coast Conference title under Poole and the programs fourth overall. Florida State finished with a remarkable 28-4 overall record, earning back-to-back conference crowns for the first time in the ACC since Maryland achieved the feat in 2003 and 2004. The Seminoles tied a previous school record with the 2011 squad by defeating five AVCA Top 25 opponents, and one of just three teams (Southern California, Western Kentucky) who have garnered 28 wins or better in the last two seasons (2011 and 2012). In Pooles fifth season Florida State obliterated the school record for consecutive wins at home, reaching 27 matches before falling to Purdue in the NCAA Second Round. Florida State also achieved a 16-match win streak and won 19 consecutive sets overall in the 2012 season to reflect its stellar play. The Seminoles finished 18th in the final AVCA Poll and 12th in the final RPI, while being led by AVCA Third-Team All-American and ACC Player of the Year Ashley Neff as well as honorable mention All-Americans Sareea Freeman and Fatma Yildirim. Pooles most memorable year thus far came in 2011, when he led the Seminoles to their first-ever NCAA National Semifinal appearance in what was a startling year to say the least. In 2011, FSU earned its third ACC title while finishing with a 28-7 overall record and an 18-2 mark within the conference. The Seminoles entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 12 national seed and began the Field of 64 by defeating Albany and Cincinnati in Tully Gym. From there, FSU upset No. 5 Purdue in four sets in the Sweet 16 and defeated fourth-seeded Iowa State in five sets in the Elite Eight in Minneapolis to achieve a feat that many deemed unthinkable when Poole and his staff first arrived. FSU became the first ACC volleyball team to ever advance to the final round of four, where it eventually lost to NCAA champion UCLA in the national semifinal at the Alamodome in San Antonio. FSU was the only team in the final four that had gotten through its regional in which both Sweet 16 and Elite Eight opponents were nationally-seeded. In his five seasons leading the Seminoles, Poole has compiled 11 of FSUs 12 NCAA postseason wins, showing a 11-5 mark in championship play. As a result of FSUs historical 2011 campaign, Poole helped the Seminoles achieve their highest national ranking ever as they finished at No. 7 in the final AVCA Poll. FSU also finished with the seventh-best RPI in the nation. Poole capped his incredible season by being named the ACC Coach of the Year for the second time as well as the AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. He coached AVCA Second-Team All-American Jekaterina Stepanova to a career year as well as AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans Visnja Djurdjevic and Neff. The Seminoles earned 21 wins in Pooles first season in 2008 and then followed that up with an incredible 2009 campaign. FSU not only posted a 31-3 overall record, but under Pooles tutelage the Noles captured their first outright regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference championship in school history (second overall) and made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. In addition to those program firsts, Pooles Seminoles also set the school standard for most conference wins in a season with 19 and ACC wins in a row with 16, which was then tied by the 2011 team. A national ranking of No. 11 in the entire country was the highest ever for a Florida State volleyball team at the time and its No. 3 national seed in the Big Dance continues to be the highest ever. Pooles 2012 team reached the programs highest AVCA ranking at No. 6 on Sept. 3, 2012. For his squads multiple successes, Poole garnered ACC Coach of the Year and AVCA Division I East Region Coach of the Year honors in 2009. He also coached a handful of players that generated quite a few accolades. Brianna Barry became the first Seminole to ever be named the ACCs Player of the Year and she also garnered AVCA Division I Second-Team All-American honors. Barry, an ESPN The Magazine Academic All First-Team member, was joined by Jordana Price, Mira Djuric and Rachael Morgan on the 2009 All-ACC Team - a record at FSU for most players on that list in one season. Price, Djuric and Morgan also each achieved an AVCA Division I Honorable Mention All-American nod. Poole also coached an ACC All-Freshman Team performer in Yildirim. The 2010 season featured several roadblocks for the Seminoles, ranging from life-altering misfortunes off the court to devastating injuries that inhibited the teams continuity. Despite all the hardships, the gutsy FSU squad finished 22-11, including 12-8 within the ACC. Several program feats were accomplished - making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in over a decade, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship in consecutive years for the first time in school history and finishing with at least 20 wins for the third straight season. Veterans Jenna Romanelli and Stephanie Neville capped off their four-year careers in excellent fashion. Junior outside hitter Djurdjevic was one of the top transfers in the country, being named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and an AVCA Honorable Mention All-East Region member. She joined Neville as members of the All-ACC Team as well. The fact that Poole has breathed life in the FSU volleyball program should come as no surprise as he brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the school after heading the program at the University of Arkansas for 14 accomplished seasons. Poole started Arkansas volleyball program in 1994 and was not only successful, but led the Lady Razorbacks to 11 Southeastern Conference Western Division titles. Add to that 11 postseason appearances - two NIVC and nine NCAA - along with an SEC Tournament title and numerous individual player honors. Upon arriving in Fayetteville, Ark. in 1993, Poole personally handled every element of building the program from buying the first pieces of equipment, hiring the assistants and recruiting the players, to renovating the court and building locker room facilities. With head coaching stints at Arkansas, Arkansas State and Arkansas Tech, Poole earned a 550-230 career record in 21 seasons prior to his hiring at FSU and had been named conference coach of the year seven times and was pegged the South Region Coach of the Year in 1997. During his 14 seasons at Arkansas, in which he compiled a 316-161 record, Poole produced two AVCA All-Americans, three AVCA honorable mention All-Americans, 24 players with 44 All-SEC honors, three SEC Freshmen of the Year and 25 AVCA All-District/All-Region honorees. In addition to the success on the court, Pooles Arkansas teams excelled in the classroom as well with 67 SEC Academic Honor Roll selections, 10 CoSIDA All-District selections, two H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete finalists and one McWhorter winner. Poole certainly made his mark in the SEC as he guided Arkansas to a 159-65 record in the SEC regular season for a 71 percent league-winning mark. Poole and the Lady Razorbacks were even more impressive against the Western Division, winning 11 of 14 titles. Poole spent an entire year away from competition preparing for the Razorbacks inaugural season in 1994 and it was time well spent as he led Arkansas to a 19-17 overall record, a 10-5 SEC mark and an SEC Western Division title with a perfect 10-0 divisional record in the first year of competition. The Lady Razorbacks finished third overall in the league that year and played well enough to earn a postseason bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Coaches tournament in Kansas City where they finished seventh in a field of 20 teams. Poole was selected as the 1994 SEC Coach of the Year while two of his players earned All-SEC honors and one player earned All-District honors. Pooles ability to build a program was proven first with Arkansas Tech then at Arkansas State. He took over days prior to the 1987 season at ASU and his first team showed the effects with an 8-24 record. But with one season under Pooles careful tutelage, virtually the same team was 41-1 the next year, launching a five-year run of winning seasons for the Lady Indians. His 1988 team had a 33-match win streak, longest in the nation, and posted a school-record 41-1 overall mark. The next year, ASU had a 34-match win streak, notched a Lady Indian record with 43 wins (43-6 overall) and was ranked ninth in the South Region. In his last season at ASU, the Lady Indians were 41-6 and received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in 1992. ASU entered the 32-team NCAA field with the most wins of any team, but lost a tough four-game match to the Northwest Regions top-seeded team, Long Beach State. Prior to ASU, Poole was an assistant and later head coach at Arkansas Tech. In two seasons as head coach at ATU, he posted a 53-20 record, winning the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference title in 1985 as co-head coach and finishing runner-up as head coach in 1986. He started his collegiate career in 1983 as a graduate assistant for the nationally ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns. Tech was 58-9 with a perfect 24-0 conference mark in two seasons with Poole as an assistant coach. A native of Heber Springs in north-central Arkansas, Poole is a 1983 graduate of Arkansas Tech and earned a masters degree from there in 1989. He is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and has served on the AVCAs All-American, All-South Region and All-South Region Ranking committees and is also an AVCA Top 25 voter. Poole and his wife, Toni, a former Arkansas State track and field standout, have two children, son Joshua and daughter Taylor.

Khrystenko arrived in Tallahassee in March 2014 and in that time has assisted heavily in international recruiting while coaching in her area of expertiseblocking. Her knowledge in blocking came through during her first with the Seminoles as she helped Sarah Burrington to an AVCA All-America honorable mention accolade and All-ACC First Team nod while Kiara Wright finished with All-ACC Second team honors. Khrystenkos outstanding work with the front row continued in 2015 as Florida State finished with 370 total blocks (634 assisted blocks / 53 solo blocks) as the Seminoles ended the season ranked fifth in the NCAA in blocks per set (3.03). It also marked the third straight season the Seminoles had at least 500 assisted blocks ,)the most consecutive 500 assisted block seasons since 1986-89 . Khrystenko continued to play a vital role in the individual development of Burrington in 2015 as she earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and All-East Region Team honors and finished among the top 20 in two major NCAA blocking categories (148 total blocks-11th; 1.44 blocks per set-17th). The addition of Melanie Keil, a transfer from Nebraska, to the Seminoles lineup provided Khrystenko a 1-2 punch that finished second in blocks (231.5) in ACC play. The duo of Burrington and Keil finished third and fourth, respectively, among ACC leaders in blocks per set. The native of Ukraine, Khrystenko played five seasons on the Ukrainian National Team while playing professionally in her country from 1995-2008. During a three year junior career (1995-97) she gained valuable international experience by competing at a pair of Junior World Championships and European Championships. Khrystenko won a plethora of accolades as a player, including a four-time Ukrainian Championship, where she was awarded the Best Blocker multiple times. She is a four-time winner of the Cup of Ukraine and was seen in the Elite Eight of the European CEV Cup and Top Teams Cups. In 2002 where she was awarded the Best Server for the Top Teams Cup. She helped Ukraine take fifth place at the World University Games in 2003. Following her athletic career, Khrystenko began coaching in 2008 as a manager of the Ukraininan Girls Team before being promoted to assistant coach of the Junior Team in 2009. During that time, Khrystenko essentially served as a general manager of the club by selecting coaches and players for the teams while working with advanced volleyball development in her country. Her role in the Ukraine expands further than just a coach. In 2008, Khrystenko was named as the Chairman of the Athletic Commission for the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation and was a member of the Executive Committee and National Olympic Committee as well. She also spent five years as a General Volleyball Manager at the Ukrainian Government. Khrystenko came to the United States in December of 2013 where she had been coaching the USA NY AAU Volleyball teams, which are based out of New York and are members of the New England Amateur Athletic Union. Khrystenko is married to Alexander Khrystenko and the couple have a six-year old son, Ivan.

Hulsmeyer plays an integral role in the match prep and scouting of opponents for Poole. He also works primarily with the Florida State setters, which included the tandem of Brianne Burkert and Hailey Luke in 2015. His tutelage of Burkert resulted in her being named to the ACC All-Freshman Team after finishing top five on the team in six categories including assists (611) and assists/set (5.05). Hulsmeyers work with Luke allowed the junior enjoy the best statistical season of her career as she dished out 729 assists (5.98 assists per set), including 453 assists in league matches. The combination of Hulsmeyers offensive schemes with the dual threat of Burkert and Luke allowed Florida State to post the best hitting percentage (.271) against ACC opponents in his first year on the bench. Hulsmeyer brought his wealth of coaching experience to Florida State after serving as an assistant at Kansas State for six seasons (2009-14), helping the Wildcats to three NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet 16 berth in 2011 after being selected to finish eighth in the Big 12. In 2014, the Wildcats teetered in-and-out of the AVCA Top 25, finishing with a record of 22-9 after falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Utah. Hulsmeyer served as the offensive and recruiting coordinator at Kansas State, working heavily with the setters in practice while acquiring some of the top recruiting classes in the country according to PrepVolleyball.com. Hulsmeyer served as the head coach for Georgetown College, where he produced a record of 75-14, leading the Tigers to a No. 5 national ranking in 2007. In both seasons at the helm he was named the conference and region coach of the year while helping a pair of players to NAIA All-America honors. Prior to an assistant coaching job at Illinois (1996-98) and a four-year head coaching stint at Purdue (1999-2002), Hulsmeyer worked for Arkansas State and Western Kentuckytwo teams in the Sun Belt Conference, capturing three titles and two Coach of the Year awards. While at the helm of Arkansas State (1993-95) he led his team to the crown in all three seasons while remaining perfect in regular season conference play in addition to a pair of NCAA Tournament bids. After a season at Western Kentucky as a graduate assistant, Hulsmeyer took over as the head coach in 1990, turning the program around and finishing with a 32-9 record following a season that had a losing record. While at the helm (1990-93) Hulsmeyer led Western Kentucky to a pair of runner-up finishes in the Sun Belt Conference. During parts of his coaching career began, Hulsmeyer played indoor and professional beach volleyball from 1989-95 while recruiting on the East Coast. Hulsmeyer graduated from Kentucky in 1988 with a degree in political science. He is married to the former Michelle Hall of Halstead, Kan. She was a two-time All-American volleyball player for Barton County Community College before she went on to play at Arkansas State where she helped her team to the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. The couple have four children, Zach, Ben, Hannah and Jack.