A key component and the veteran of the Cal volleyball coaching staff is 12th-year assistant and chief recruiting coordinator Chris Bigelow. A former assistant at Wisconsin and Texas, Bigelow was hired by Rich Feller at Cal in January of 1999. She has since been instrumental in securing recruiting classes ranked among the top 10 in the nation for the Golden Bears, including a No. 5 ranking in 2005 and a school-best No. 3 ranking by PrepVolleyball.com in 2006.
"To recruits around the country, Chris Bigelow is the voice of Cal volleyball, and to club and college coaches, she is one of the top recruiters in the nation," said Feller. "No one works harder than Chris. Besides being a great recruiter, she is also an outstanding training coach with a special interest in video tape analysis."
Bigelow built an impressive array of coaching credentials before arriving at Cal. She was an assistant coach for Bill Neville at Montana State from 1978-81, before taking over as head coach of the Bobcats from 1981-83. Bigelow then became an assistant to current USC volleyball coach Mick Haley at Texas from 1984-91, helping lead the Longhorns to seven conference championships, three NCAA semifinal appearances and one national championship in 1988.
From 1991-93, Bigelow worked as a volleyball TV color commentator for the Southwest Conference and University of Texas radio.
In 1993-94, Bigelow coached St. Stephens Episcopal High School in Austin, Texas, to a 30-3 season. She then accepted an offer to become John Cook's assistant coach at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers to three NCAA tournament appearances, one NCAA round of 16 finish, two NCAA quarterfinal appearances and one Big Ten co-championship from 1995-98.
Bigelow was a three-sport athlete at Eastern Washington and a member of the USA Volleyball training squad from 1973-74. She graduated from Eastern Washington in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. Bigelow received her master's degree from Montana State in physical education in 1980.
