The 2022 season will be the 10th for Chad Callihan at the helm of the Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball program. He was named the head coach on May 28, 2013 and became the 13th head volleyball coach in Cowgirl history. In his nine seasons at Wyoming, Callihan has recorded five 20-win seasons. Prior to his arrival in Laramie, UW had seven 20-win seasons in program history.
On September 6, 2019 with Wyoming's victory over the College of Charleston, Callihan became the program's all-time leader in career wins with his 125th victory as the head coach of the Cowgirls. 2019 was a banner year for UW under Callihan as he led the Cowgirls to 22 victories, the sixth-most in a single season in program history while the 16 conference wins were the most in Wyoming history.
In the spring 2021 Covid-19-shortened season, Callihan led the Cowgirls to an 8-6 mark, all in conference play, while middle blocker Jackie McBride was named to the All-Mountain West Team for the fourth time in her career, becoming just the second Cowgirl ever, to be named All-Mountain West four times. A season later, McBride became the first student-athlete in league history to become a five-time all-league honoree.
Callihan coached four Cowgirls to All-Mountain West Team selections in 2019, the most ever in a single season in program history as Madi Fields, Jackie McBride, KC McMahon and Tara Traphagan were selected to the All-MW Team while Mackenzie Coates was a fifth honoree as she was an Honorable Mention selection. Madi Fields became the all-time career digs leader in program history during the 2019 season and finished her career with 1,773 digs. Fields' 561 digs in 2019 were the second-most in a season in program history.
Callihan also led the Cowgirls to their third consecutive postseason appearance as Wyoming hosted the first two rounds of the NIVC Tournament in 2019. With a first round sweep over Northwestern State, Wyoming recorded its first postseason victory since 1989.
In 2018, UW hosted the first postseason volleyball match in program history, and with their second-straight selection to the NIVC, the Cowgirls made back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 1990. The team finished third in the MW with a 12-6 conference record.
Led by All-MW middle blockers Reed Copeland and Jackie McBride, the Cowgirls finished tops in the MW in blocks per set (2.86) and total blocks (340.5), ranking seventh and eighth in the nation, respectively, in those categories. Individually, Copeland ranked second in the nation in total blocks (195) and fifth in blocks per set (1.64) while leading the nation in both. The Pokes' season hitting percentage of .243 ranked second in the MW and 46th nationally. Wyoming held opponents to a .162 hitting percentage, which ranked second in the MW and 17th nationally.
The 2017 season was the first for Callihan at Wyoming that ended in postseason play. It accepted a bid to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), where it fell to TCU in the opening round. Tara Traphagan and Jackie McBride each garnered their first All-MW honors, while Marissa Harmon was selected as the MW Freshman of the Year. UW ended the season with a 17-14 overall record. Additionally, the Brown and Gold finished second in the Mountain West with a 12-6 record. It was the highest finish as a team since becoming a member of the MW.
UW completed the 2016 season with an 18-13 overall mark after an 11-7 campaign in conference play. Callihan recorded his 300th win against Idaho on Sept. 15 and his 85 wins at Wyoming are second most in program history. He ended his fourth season with 47 conference wins, which are most all-time in Wyoming coaching history. He moved past Hall of Fame coach Mike English for the all-time record with the win at Air Force.
As a team, Wyoming ended the year 20th in the nation with a .163 opponent hitting percentage and tied 28th with 294 total team blocks. Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss were each named All-MW selections. It was the third-straight selection for Beach and second for Slofkiss.
Wyoming posted one of its best seasons in 2015, finishing with a 23-7 overall record, and a 13-5 mark in the Mountain West. The 2015 season ended with the second-best winning percentage in school history (.767) and the 13 wins in conference play were the most in any season for UW volleyball. UW also earned its first AVCA national ranking since 1994. Wyoming ended the year as one of the top teams in the NCAA in numerous categories including blocks per set, blocks and opponent hitting percentage.
As a team, UW was eighth in the nation in total bocks (349), sixth in blocks per set (3.01) and 11th in opponent hitting percentage (.159). Additionally, Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss were each named All-MW, while Reed Copeland became the third Cowgirl to be named the MW Freshman of the Year.
Callihan followed up a successful first season with another 20-plus wins in 2014. The Cowgirls finished the year with a 23-8 overall record and a 12-6 mark in the Mountain West. Wyoming would open up the year with a seven-match winning streak and win a school best 14 matches in a row dating back to the end of the 2013 campaign. It surpassed the 13-match winning streak set by the 1989 team. With 23-wins, Wyoming made history by winning 20-plus victories three seasons in a row while the 12 conference wins were the most ever in the programs history. Callihan also became the second head coach to win 20-plus matches in their first two seasons as a head coach.
Three Cowgirls, Laura Beach, Erin Kirby and Bridget Shanahan, garnered All-Conference honors, while Kirby was selected for the fourth time in her career. She also became the all-time leader in both the Mountain West Conference and school history with 714 career blocks.
He led the Cowgirls to a 21-13 record in his first season at the helm of the program. His 21-wins were the second most victories by a first year head coach in school history. Callihan opened the season with a perfect 6-0 record, surpassing Jim Barnes (2002-04) for most consecutive wins in their first season as head coach.
Wyoming finished the season with a seven-match Mountain West winning streak, the longest for the Cowgirls in school history. UW finished tied for fourth in the MW with a record of 11-9. He also led the Cowgirls to a 13-3 record inside the UniWyo Sports Complex including opening the season with a seven-match home winning streak.
The Cowgirls led the MW and ranked eight nationally in blocks at 2.89 per set. UW recorded 367.5 blocks, second most block in a single-season in school history. Wyoming also ranked third in the MW in digs at 15.07 per set. The Cowgirls recorded 1,914 digs on the season the second-most in school history and the most by UW since 1994.
Callihan came to Wyoming from Georgia Southern University where he spent five seasons at the helm. While at GSU, he turned the program around after inheriting a team that went 10-21 overall in 2007. He led them to 16-wins in his first season and a 21-10 overall mark in 2009.
He helped the Eagles to a 27-9 record overall in 2010 and their best winning percentage in school history (.750) en route to their first SoCon title since 2003. The 2010 team was one win short of tying the Eagles' best mark of 28 victories in 1993, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history.
In 2012, Georgia Southern won the league's South Division regular season title with a 15-1 mark and went 25-7 overall. Senior Kate Van Dyke was named the SoCon Player of the Year and First Team All-League, while Callihan won SoCon Coach of the Year honors.
The Eagles notched three 20-win campaigns during his time there while posting a 107-59 overall record and 59-23 in league play. Under his guidance, GSU student-athletes earned a total of 19 postseason SoCon honors.
Not only have his teams succeeded on the court, they have done so in the classroom. All four of his Mountaineer teams received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, and his Georgia Southern squad earned the honor in 2010 and 2011. Senior Moriah Bellissimo was named First Team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America and earned a SoCon Presidential Scholarship in 2012.
He joined the Eagles after spending the 2007 campaign as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia. He helped with the Bulldogs' turnaround, improving a 6-25 record in 2006 to a 17-13 overall mark in 2007.
From 2003-07, he spent time at fellow SoCon member Appalachian State. Callihan posted an 88-44 (.667) overall record and a .814 league winning percentage (57-13) during his tenure with the Mountaineers. He was named 2004 SoCon Coach of the Year after leading the Apps to consecutive North Division championships (2003-04), two regular season runner-up finishes and two appearances in the SoCon Tournament championship match (2004-05).
Prior to his time at Appalachian State, Callihan worked four years at Radford, the last two as head coach. In 2001, the Highlanders posted a 24-7 record and captured the Big South Conference regular season title. Radford rattled off 23 consecutive victories that season, the longest winning streak in the nation, and finished a perfect 14-0 in the BSC. The Highlanders were ranked as high as sixth in the East Region.
Before taking over the head coaching duties, Callihan spent two years as an assistant coach, helping the Highlanders capture two Big South Conference championships and a berth in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
Callihan spent three seasons as the head coach at Radford High School in Radford, Va., leading his team to its first regional appearance in 13 years and earned District Coach of the Year honors.
His coaching experience also includes coaching the Yokota Air Base women's volleyball team in Japan during his four years in the United States Air Force. The squad consisted of former Division I athletes.
A member of the AVCA and USA Volleyball, Callihan has worked throughout his career with Special Olympics and setting up free volleyball clinics.
Callihan and his wife Jessica are the parents of two sons, Caleb and Macoy.