Corey Phelps was named the head coach of the Minnesota State women’s volleyball program in June 2021. He joined the Mavericks as an assistant prior to the 2019 season and served as the team’s interim head coach for a year and a half before being named head coach.
Since 2021, the Mavericks, under Phelps, have gone 42-57 (.424) with a 33-43 (.434) record against NSIC opponents. He has coached 32 NSIC All-Academic Team members, seven Myles Brand Award winners, eight CSC Academic All-District players and three All-Conference athletes.
2024: The Mavericks (18-9, 10-8 NSIC) continued their upward trend in the Phelps era, as the team won its first eight non-conference games of the 2024 season. The fall season was highlighted by wins against #20 UMD on the road and a 3-2 win against #10 Southwest Minnesota State at home on October 30. MSU ended the regular season tied for seventh in the NSIC, which secured the first postseason game for Maverick volleyball since 2018. The team fell to second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinal, 3-1. Freshman right side Avery Klein made the All-NSIC First Team in her rookie season on campus. Kiya Durant was named to the All-Conference Second Team for the second consecutive year. She surpassed 400 career blocks and ended her Maverick career with 417 total blocks. Senior setter Brooke Bolwerk ended her career with 2,484 assists. Junior libero Ellie Kline surpassed 1,000 digs in her MSU career. Bolwerk, Durant and Abigail Wolfe all earned NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Awards and nine others were named to the NSIC Fall All-Academic Team. Bolwerk, Durant, Kline and Emma Lovell earned CSC Academic All-District Honors in 2024.
2023: Minnesota State (14-12, 9-9 NSIC) more than doubled its win total from 2022 in the 2023 season. MSU won four games in a row in the middle of the season before it defeated #10 Minnesota Duluth on the road, 3-1. Senior right side Sophie Tietz made the NSIC All-Conference First Team in 2023 and Kiya Durant made the Second Team in 2023. Tietz ended the season with 245 kills, 91 blocks and 42 service aces. Durant had 174 kills and 99 blocks. The team narrowly missed the NSIC Tournament, finishing in a tie for eighth place with Sioux Falls, who held a tiebreaker over Minnesota State. 10 Mavericks made the NSIC Fall All-Academic Team in 2023. Tietz, Durant, Brooke Bolwerk and Ellie Kline all earned CSC Academic All-District Honors.
2022: Phelps and Minnesota State went 6-22 (5-15 NSIC) in the 2022 season. Seven Maverick players made the NSIC Fall All-Academic Team and two student-athletes received the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award.
2021: Phelps led the Mavericks to a 14-14 (9-11 NSIC) record in the first year at the helm of the Minnesota State volleyball team. Under his guidance Mara Quam broke the All-Time digs record in school history. Saw freshman Kiya Durant finish third in the NSIC in blocks. Also, eight players earned NSIC All-Academic Team recognition and had two athletes receive the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award.
He served as the head coach of the women's volleyball program at St. Catherine's from 2010-16 and during his six years in charge of the Wildcats, had five all-conference players, one all-region performer and one Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. The program was also honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) team academic award seven times. In addition to two seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-River Falls, Phelps also was an instructor at the Falcons' summer volleyball camps and served the campus community as a Health Education Coordinator. The Independence, Mo., native spent four seasons as the top assistant coach at UM-Morris and six years as an assistant coach at St. Mary's University in Winona. At both institutions he also worked with the institution's intramural sports programs.
Phelps played collegiate volleyball at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa where he was team captain for the Yellowjackets. In addition to earning all-conference honors as an outside hitter, Phelps helped lead Graceland to a spot in the national tournament, where they posted a second-place finish. The 1995 Graceland graduate earned a Master of Arts Degree in Human Development from St. Mary's University in 2010.
