Coaching Staff

Tim Walenga enters his first year as the head volleyball coach and he brings a wealth of experience to the Viking program. He has coached Club Volleyball for 12 seasons with stops in Illinois, Minnesota, and North Carolina. For the past four years, he has served as the training director and master coach of the 1st Alliance Volleyball Club 17’s Division. His teams have placed in the Top 10 at the Junior National Championships for the past three years, with his 2009 17 Silver team battling their way to the JVDA National Championship Match in the 17 Open Division. Walenga has former players competing at every NCAA and NAIA level. His players have earned numerous individual and team awards, including; NCAA Division I All-American, All-Conference, All-Region, and All-Tournament. Fifteen of his players have appeared in NCAA Division I National Championships with three taking home the National Titles. In addition, he has had players appear in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, and be named NCAA Division II All-American, All-Conference, All-Tournament and NCAA Division III All-Conference, and All-Tournament. At the Collegiate level, he has 12 years experience working as a Head Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, Assistant Coach and a Graduate Assistant. His background includes spending time at Southern Illinois University, Elon University, Marshall University as the First Assistant Volleyball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. While pursuing his Master’s Degree at Minnesota State University, Mankato; he was instrumental in taking a program that hadn’t had a winning season in years and turning them into a Conference and National caliber contender and producing multiple NCAA Division II All-Americans in the process. As a collegiate head coach, Walenga initiated and constructed the ground work for rebuilding the volleyball program at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. His Dominican University team shattered records at the school with a team that was comprised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores Walenga brought in after his arrival on campus. He was also the Interim Head Coach at Marshall University in the Spring of 2002 and trained and coached the team at multiple competition throughout the Spring. A native of South Holland, IL, Walenga holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State and a Masters of Arts in Athletic Administration from Minnesota State University. During his time as head coach at Dominican, the Stars broke 30 school records and recorded their best winning percentage since 2004. Walenga was an accomplished player as well. He helped guide his USA Volleyball Men’s Club Teams to four Top 5 finishes at the USAV Adult National Championships; including winning a National Championship in 2005. He also led the Illinois State men’s club volleyball team to a nationally-ranked finish prior to his graduation from ISU in 1995.

Juarez enters her first year with the Vikings. A 1997 graduate of Illinois State University, Juarez competed as a member of the Redbirds volleyball program from 1993-1996 during which the Redbirds made two NCAA Division I National Tournament appearances in 1993 and 1996, advancing to the second round of the tournament in 1996, before falling to the University of Florida, who advanced all the way to the Final Four. That year, the Redbirds were crowned the champions of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), beating Drake University in the conference finals. Academically, Juarez landed on the Dean's list at Illinois State eight times and was an academic all-conference selection for the MVC in 1996. At Lyons Township in LaGrange, IL, Juarez guided the girls' volleyball team to two conference championships and was named All-Conference in 1992 and 1993. In 1993, she was named to the All-State Team and played in the Mizuno All-Star Classic. As a member of the Spikettes Volleyball Club, Juarez helped her team to a third-place finish at the AAU national tournament in 1992 and 1993 and a fifth-place finish at the USAV national tournament in 1993. As a coach, Juarez has served as an instructor at various camps and clinics including the Illinois State University volleyball camp.