Crystal Poskey Bio
4/3/2008 4:17:00 AM | General
Assistant Coach, 5th season
Francis Marion 2001
E-mail coach Poskey
Crystal Poskey enters her fifth year as assistant coach with the Eagles, having joined the program in 2008 along with Head Coach Chad Callihan. Poskey came to GSU after a two-year head coaching stint at Radford University.
She took over a Radford program that had not won a Big South Conference match since 2003 and had not won more than eight matches in the previous four years and immediately made a difference. Radford went 9-19 in her first season, the most wins since 2001, and she led the Highlanders to four Big South wins.
Under Poskey's direction, Radford improved dramatically in every offensive statistical category, including kills and service aces. RU made a jump of 382 total kills from the previous year and 34 aces from 2005 to 2006. Radford had four players in 2006 that recorded 200 or more kills.
Perhaps her greatest influence came in the improvement at the setter position. A former setter at Francis Marion, Poskey's guidance helped RU setter Josie Hanners increase her output by nearly 400 assists from 2005 to 2006. Hanners finished the season with 1190 assists, her first season with more than 800 helpers.
Poskey has continued to make developing setters her trademark at Georgia Southern. Current senior Kate Van Dyke enters the 2012 season 181 assists shy of the school career record and is a three-time first-team All-Southern Conference selection. She was named the 2010 SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading the Eagles to the title.
Poskey brought a wealth of knowledge and experience into the Radford program after serving as an assistant coach at Appalachian State, where she also worked with Callihan. Poskey was the Mountaineers' recruiting coordinator and specialized in helping improve ASU's setters. Under her tutelage, Amber Mangrum set school records with 4,408 career assists and 1,544 assists in a season. Callihan and Poskey led the Mountaineers to the 2003 Southern Conference championship, the school's first since 1995.
A four-year standout at Francis Marion for Jerry Pruitt, Poskey was an all-conference selection in each of her four years. She enjoyed her most prolific season in 1998, earning Peach Belt Player of the Year and Tournament MVP honors. She also collected NCAA South Region and AVCA All-Region accolades while leading her squad to its second-straight Peach Belt Tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Poskey played a key role in the Patriots' two regular-season (1996 and 1998) and tournament (1997 and 1998) Peach Belt titles and an AVCA top-25 national ranking in 1998.
After earning her undergraduate degree in biology with a minor in coaching from Francis Marion in 2001, Poskey took a job as the head junior varsity coach at Clarkston High School in her hometown of Clarkston, Wash. Two years later, she accepted a position as head volleyball coach at South Florence High School in Florence, S.C., where she spent two years before moving on to Appalachian State.
