Teichert Named Big Sky Coach of the Year

ISU Head Coach Chad Teichert has been named the 2012 Big Sky Coach of the Year after being selected in a vote by his fellow Big Sky coaches. This is Teichert's first Coach of the Year in his career and is just the second for the ISU women's volleyball program.

This season, Teichert led the Bengals to a second-place Big Sky regular season finish with a 16-4 record. ISU also finished second at the Big Sky Conference Tournament this year. The team also recorded the third most wins for a single season with an overall 23-8 record.
Teichert had four players named to the All-Conference Team in 2012, including regular-season Most Valuable Player in Lori Mendenhall, who was also named first team. Teammates Jaclyn Hone-Hawkins and Breanne Van Every were named to the second team and Tressa Lyman was named honorable mention.

“I am honored and appreciative of my peers for selecting me for this award,” Teichert said. “I am extremely thankful for an incredible group of talented young women that has made this all possible. Their effort and hard work are a big part of this. I also am very appreciative for the help of two hardworking assistant coaches, Ali Gorny and Keisha Fisher, who have helped make this season an outstanding one for this team, for this school and for our fans. I want to extend my appreciation to my former assistant coaches, Katie Edgeson and Dave Hyte. Without all of their hard work in the seasons prior to this, we would not have been where we are now.”

The Bengals were the No. 2 seed this past weekend at the 2012 Banner Health North Colorado Medical Center Big Sky Championship. ISU defeated Northern Arizona 3-1 in the semifinals and went on to face tournament host Northern Colorado in the championship. The Bengals had a 2-0 lead going into intermission, but fell in the final three sets to the Bears. After the tournament, Mendenhall and Hone-Hawkins were named to the all-tournament team.

Teichert is in his fifth season with Idaho State. He posted a 10-20 overall and 5-11 Big Sky records his first season with the Bengals in 2008. In his second season he improved upon his record, leading the Bengals to a 13-15 season and a 7-9 Big Sky record with a fifth-place finish in the regular season.

He continued the momentum in 2010 when ISU finished the season 18-13 overall and 9-7 in the Big Sky to finish the regular season tied for third.

Before coming to ISU, Teichert was perhaps the most successful high school coach in Wyoming history, leading three separate schools for a cumulative record of 397-83 (.827), winning 10 state titles in 16 years, including a run of eight straight titles.

His teams at Cokeville (1983-93) Mountain View (1994-98) and Green River (1998-2000) combined to win 43 of the 65 tournaments they entered as well, a .661 tournament championship percentage.

Last season, ISU finished sixth in the Big Sky Conference with a 7-9 conference and 14-14 overall record.

The last coach to be named Big Sky Coach of the Year was Jon Potter in 1990. Jim Cherniss won three straight MWAC Coach of the Year Awards from 1985-87.