After former volleyball Coach Bailey Faught retired from coaching in the spring, freshman Coach Amanda Kirkpatrick moved up to fill the position.
“The opportunity opened up,” Kirkpatrick said. “I knew Ms. Villalva was going to be my assistant,so I knew I could do it.”
Kirkpatrick came to SHS after her husband took the principal’s job. She brought five years of volleyball head coaching with her and over 20 years of experience in coaching cross country and track.
“She has a super-positive coaching style,” Villalva said. “She really comes at everything from more of the positive angle and with this group specifically. It has worked because they’re really hyped and crazy, so I think it gives them the freedom to not stress out so much and embrace their goofy sides. That’s when they succeed the most.”
Kirkpatrick lacks the normal senior-heavy squad.
“Deringer Bell has done a great job of stepping up and being our only senior and leader,” Kirkpatrick said. “The others respond well to it.”
Bell, an outside hitter, has learned lessons throughout this season while being the leader.
“I learned we need to play together,” Bell said. “We play as a team, as a tribe, and it’s bigger than all of us combined.”
Bell said Kirkpatrick motivates and encourages the athletes.
“She always teaches us to play, not for ourselves, but for God,” Bell said. “It helps us a lot by keeping us out of our heads.”
Kirkpatrick said she had good mentors.
“I have a lot of role models,” Kirkpatrick said. “There’s a guy named Phillips Rhodes. He is my all-time favorite coach. He coached me, then I got to coach with him.”
Kirkpatrick said she never got to play volleyball because her high school didn’t offer volleyball when she was enrolled. That doesn’t stop her from understanding what female athletes go through.
“I try to balance all the hormones of the girls,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s about keeping everybody on the same page and happy.”
Junior defensive specialist Rihanna Davila said she liked the encouraging words Kirkpatrick gives.
“She motivates me,” Davila said. “She just has a positive outlook on everyone. She also does a lot of drills for us to come together as a group. Nobody is left out.”
Sophomore outside hitter Austyn Flowers said Kirkpatrick has a good attitude about everything.
“She doesn’t bring us down,” Flowers said. “She’s just motivating. She’s very energetic, and she gets us all hype very easily.”
The Maidens chose the slogan “AO1” meaning Audience of 1.
“They want to always remember who they’re playing for,” Kirkpatrick said. “I believe in positivity, and we’ve talked a lot this year about being comfortable and being uncomfortable in different situations.”
