Tolis Koskinaris enters his 12th season as the head volleyball coach at College of DuPage. Program-building has been part of Tolis Koskinaris' story since long before he became a head coach. As a high school player, he was part of the very first boys' volleyball team at Waubonsie Valley—a program built from scratch with no roadmap. He carried that same instinct to College of DuPage, getting his start as a student assistant on the Chaparrals' 1998 and 1999 national championship teams. After playing collegiately at the University of Illinois and graduating in 2002, Koskinaris spent over a decade founding Cyclones Volleyball Club and head coaching West Aurora High School before returning to COD in 2015 to lead the women's program.
Under his leadership, the Chaparral women returned to national dominance, capturing the 2022 NJCAA national championship—the program's first title since 1999—behind National Player of the Year Chloey Myers and a standout 32-3 record. That championship season earned Koskinaris both NJCAA and AVCA National Coach of the Year honors. The program has maintained its elite status ever since, securing top-five national finishes in four consecutive seasons: fifth in 2023, third in 2024, and fourth in 2025.
Along the way, the women's program has produced a steady stream of elite talent, including All-Americans Alyssa Fountain, Olivia Witek, Cyd Martinez, Josephine Becker, Francesca Brandonisio, and Megan Daca. Koskinaris has been named N4C Coach of the Year three times (2017, 2022, 2023) and earned Region 4 Coach of the Year honors in 2025.
In 2023, Koskinaris was tasked with building the COD men's volleyball program from the ground up, leading to a remarkably swift rise to the top. After taking fourth in their inaugural 2023 season and third in 2024, the Chaparrals claimed the 2025 NJCAA Invitational national championship with an incredible 24-2 overall record, going undefeated against all junior college competition. The men's program followed that up with another elite campaign in 2026, finishing third nationally with a 29-3 record.
Koskinaris credits much of the program's success to his staff, notably long-time assistant Frank Martinez, alongside Cynthia Martinez and Braden Woods, emphasizing that building a championship culture requires a total team effort.
Beyond COD, his footprint in the sport spans across the region. He continues to run Cyclones Volleyball Club across multiple DuPage and Will County locations, has coached for USA Volleyball, and serves as the first-ever Chairman of the Board for USAV's Great Lakes Region.
Tolis and his wife, Kristy, reside in Plainfield with their daughter, Mikaela.
