FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats new era and new team beginning is set. Fort Valley State announces Chymaine Guinyard as the new Wildcat head women's volleyball coach.
A veteran volleyball coach, Guinyard takes over the program's direction from FVSU's Larry Wrather, who has transitioned into being solely the Wildcat men's volleyball head coach, after leading the program the past three seasons.
"We are excited to welcome Coach Guinyard to The Valley and lead our Wildcat program. She brings an enthusiasm to the coaching bench and I am confident she will continue the rise of the FVSU women's volleyball team," said FVSU Interim Director of Athletics Daphnie Johnson.
The new Wildcat head coach takes over a team, which went 11-16 last fall, the program's first double-digit win season in 11 years.
"I am excited for this new era of Wildcat Women's Volleyball and I look forward to working with this extraordinary group of talented young ladies. Coming back to the SIAC is bringing me full circle to the conference that molded me as a student-athlete," noted Guinyard.
Guinyard comes to FVSU after she led the Claflin University team the last four seasons. Over the time leading the Lady Panthers, Guinyard posted two winning campaigns, including a 15-10 mark with an 11-5 mark in the CIAA for the 2021 season. For the 2021 season, her Claflin team received the CIAA Defensive Player of the Year, Trinity Fierce, along with numerous of student-athletes receiving weekly honors of Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of Week, Setter of the Week and Rookie of the Week. She also had players named for Post Season conference honors as well as, several players ranked statistically for the NCAA Division II overall individual rankings (Aces Per Set, Digs Per Set, Blocks Per Set). Before taking over the Lady Panther team, Guinyard served as assistant coach for the 2017 and 2018 seasons before being the Interim head coach for 2019.
Beginning her coaching career, Guinyard was the head volleyball coach at Calhoun County High School in St. Matthews, S.C. In her lone season, Guinyard guided her team to the Class 2A playoffs. In addition, she had a player featured as the WLTX Player of the Week while another was named to the Class 2A All-Region Team.
Guinyard has spent several seasons coaching club volleyball in South Carolina. In 2012 and 2013, she coached the Branchville Juniors Club Volleyball Team in Branchville, S.C., and she also served as a coach of the Orangeburg Lady Cubs Club Volleyball Team in Orangeburg, S.C.
Guinyard has experience with being a lead for the APPLE Training Institute/NCAA Sport Science Collaborative. In August 2020, she was chosen to participate in the TruNorth Sports Coach Development Academy. In January 2021, she was chosen to be a part of the Inaugural Reach & Teach: Big 12 Volleyball Diversity Mentoring Program. A May graduate of the WeCoach Class #50 NCAA Women's Coaches Academy. Guinyard was selected as a coach for the USA Volleyball High Performance camp in June 2022. In February 2024, she served as the Liaison for CIAA Student-Athlete Empowerment Program. She is IMPACT certified through the Palmetto Volleyball Association and is a member of USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
A native of Orangeburg, S.C., Guinyard played four years for the Lady Panthers. She was a member of the 2014 team which captured the school's first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship and the school's first-ever automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.
Guinyard received her Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Claflin in 2016.
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