Volleyball names new head coach, adds beach volleyball team
February 8, 2019
Graphic by Kaitlyn Biri
The Nicholls State University volleyball team gained a new head coach in Kallie Noble and will begin competing in the sand this semester.
Beach volleyball has arrived at Nicholls as a new women’s sport, and Noble will oversee both the indoor and outdoor teams.
Athletics Director Matt Roan said there had to be a different presence at the helm to advance the program’s future.
“We determined that a change in leadership was necessary, not based on competitive results, but [on] some of the issues that we were facing internal to the program,” Roan said. “We launched a national search [and] felt really, really good about the quality of the candidate pool that expressed an interest in our position. As I shared with her on paper, on the phone and in person, Coach Noble impressed our committee that we put together, and most importantly, [we] believe she’s a phenomenal fit and the best leader for our program moving forward.”
Roan said the newly added beach volleyball team will consist of players from the indoor team roster, and it will be in action soon.
“We will be playing a four or five-week regular season and then a kind of end-of-the-year tournament. That’ll be this year – more local, [so] a couple of times in New Orleans, LSU, ULM, and we’ll be making those announcements in the not-too-distant future.”
Noble said she has enjoyed the atmosphere of Thibodaux, and she will get the team out to the sand rather soon.
“We’ve started this semester indoor, so we’re going to do three weeks indoor, and then we’ll transition to the sand,” Noble said. “We’ll be practicing at The SandBox in Houma [and] its doubles, so two girls on each side competing.”
Roan said a home beach volleyball court for the team should be completed in just over a year.
“We have had some conversations with some of our local partners. Whether it’s on campus or contiguous to campus, we expect within the next 12-18 months or so to have that completed and give our team a home.”
Noble said she strives to turn the program, which has won seven matches in two seasons, around on the court and ensure her players are taking care of business.
“I think it’s really important that we build a championship experience all the way around. We’re talking about successes in the classroom, successes in the community and then successes on the court. We’re just building that winning mentality, and hopefully, that’ll transfer when we come out in the fall and compete,” Noble said.
The indoor volleyball team aims to have its first winning season since 2011, and the beach volleyball team should be in action starting in March. A team schedule is set to come out soon.
