Wichita State Athletics

Chris Lamb enters his 24th season as the head volleyball coach at Wichita State University in 2023. He has led the Shockers to at least 20 wins in 15 out of the last 20 seasons, and was the National Coach of the Year by Volleyball Magazine in 2017. Lamb’s career record stands at an impressive 482-228 following the 2022 season. Lamb leads all active American Athletic Conference coaches in career wins.

In 2022, Lamb led the Shockers back to the postseason for the first time since 2017, as Wichita State qualified for the NIVC postseason tournament and finished with an 18-13 record. The campaign was highlighted by the program's first-ever win against Iowa State and three individual all-conference honorees. Natalie Foster and Brylee Kelly earned First Team accolades, while Sophia Rohling was tabbed to the Second Team.
 
The Shockers were picked eighth in the 2021 preseason AAC poll, but finished fifth despite a lineup that featured just one upperclassman in the regular rotation. WSU finished one game back of Cincinnati and SMU for third place, and had three players named to the American's All-Conference teams. Brylee Kelly was unanimously selected to the First Team, and both Kayce Litzau and Natalie Foster earned spots on the Second Team.

WSU won the American Athletic Conference regular-season title with a perfect 20-0 record in the inaugural season in the conference and finished 29-4 overall in 2017. The Shockers earned the No. 16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first and second round for the first time in school history. Lamb also earned AVCA North Region Coach of the Year and American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors.
 
Lamb guided the 2016 team to another NCAA Tournament and won the fourth MVC Tournament title in school history.
 
The 2015 team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion Nebraska. Lamb led the Shockers to their sixth Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and third Valley Tournament title.

In 2013, the Shockers won their fifth Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and second Valley Tournament title. The team competed in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh-straight season.

In 2012, he helped the Shockers to the first Sweet 16 in school history. WSU defeated Arkansas and Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., to advance to the Regional Semifinals against USC in Austin, Texas. WSU finished the season 24-10 overall and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The 2011 Shockers earned their fifth-straight at large berth into the NCAA Tournament and finished 21-11 overall and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  

In 2010, the Shockers finished 21-8 overall and 14-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  WSU earned its fourth-straight at large berth into the NCAA Tournament under Lamb.

In 2009, Lamb led the Shockers to a 26-7 overall record, a 14-4 record in Missouri Valley Conference play and a third-straight trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

He coached the Shockers to their fourth MVC title in five years in 2008 with a 30-2 record overall and an 18-0 mark in conference play.  He also earned his fourth MVC Coach-of-the-Year award as he led WSU to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  He guided the Shockers to a 29-0 record in regular-season play, which marked the first time in school history that a team finished the regular-season undefeated.  He also led the team to an 18-0 record in MVC play for the second time in school history.

The team also won a school record 30 matches, went on a school record 29-match winning streak and earned its highest ranking in school history (ninth).

He coached the Shockers to their third MVC title in four years in 2007 with a 27-6 record overall and a 17-1 mark in conference play.  He also earned his third MVC Coach-of-the-Year award as he led WSU to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

He earned Missouri Valley Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2004 and 2005 after leading the Shockers to back-to-back regular-season titles and in 2007 after leading the Shockers to their third MVC title and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2005 squad finished a perfect 18-0 in Valley play, the first Shocker team in any sport to go undefeated in the conference.

He helped lead the Shockers to a historic season in 2004 as WSU won its first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and Valley Tournament title. The team also won its first-ever NCAA Tournament match in its first-ever appearance.

Under his leadership, the Shockers improved in wins and in the conference standings in each of his first six seasons. He is the first WSU volleyball coach to accomplish this feat.

He has coached 11 All-Americans at WSU including Tabitha Brown, Abbie Lehman, Jody Larson, Katie Reilly, Chelsey Feekin, Ashey Andrade, Emily Adney, Kelly Broussard, Emily Stockman, Sara Lungren and Sara Younes.

Before taking the reins of the Shocker program, Lamb was an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Arizona from 1998-2000.

Lamb is also the former head coach and founder of the Empire Volleyball Club, one of the nation’s most successful clubs based in Santa Rosa, Calif. He coordinated up to 13 teams annually, of various age groups, all of which were perennially ranked in the top 10 of the Northern California Volleyball Association from 1989-97. During his nine years running the program, Lamb helped more than 80 of his club players earn collegiate scholarships.

Before taking the job at Arizona, Lamb was an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Cal State-Bakersfield (CSUB) from 1994-97. During his tenure at CSUB, Lamb was instrumental in helping the Roadrunners to the Elite Eight at the National Championship four consecutive seasons while compiling a 128-17 record (43-4 in conference play). During that time, CSUB also won four consecutive Southwest Regional Championships, as well as four straight California Collegiate Athletic Association titles.

Lamb was not only a successful coach at the collegiate level, but the high school level as well. He served as the girls’ volleyball coach at El Molino High School in Forestville, Calif., from 1987-90 and again in 1993. Lamb compiled a 136-26 mark, winning four consecutive league titles, four North Coast Section Championships and earning a berth in the state tournament four straight seasons.

Lamb has eight years of extensive collegiate camp experience (1990-98), having worked at eight different schools, including Arizona, Pacific and Stanford. He has also been active working for the Junior Olympics All-American selection committee and as a coach for both the USA Olympic Festival tryouts and the USA Junior Elite tryouts.

When he was not coaching, Lamb served as the regional representative and junior advisory council member for the Northern California Volleyball Association.

Lamb has five years playing experience, having played for Club Sportswear in the San Francisco Bay Area League from 1992-94 and the Sonoma State club team from 1989-93.

A 1998 graduate from Sonoma State with a B.A. degree in Kinesiology, Lamb had his first NCAA Division I experience from 1991-92 as an assistant women’s volleyball coach at St. Mary’s College, in Moraga, Calif.

Hailing from Sebastopol, Calif., Lamb is just the sixth head coach in WSU history. He is married to the former Shannon Hoyt, who stepped down in June 2022 as Director of Volleyball Operations. They reside in Wichita and have two daughters, Gracie and Sydney.