Elite coaches bring hundreds of wins and plenty of wisdom to state volleyball tourney

Nov. 21—RAPID CITY — Coaching greatness is gathered under one roof this weekend at the South Dakota state high school volleyball tournament.

Of the 10 active winningest coaches in South Dakota volleyball, seven of them are coaching teams in the state tournament this weekend in Rapid City, with Class AA, Class A and Class B all in action at Summit Arena. Among them, they account for more than 3,500 victories in their careers.

Another element that is meaningful for many of them? Most of the coaches in the state tournament are women, including all seven in the top-10 on the active list.

"There's a lot of strong women in this gym; a lot of leadership, and they've grown the sport," said Harrisburg coach Ronette Costain, who has coached more than 550 wins in her 30-year career. "They care about their kids."

"I think we learn from each other. There's so many things you can pick up from coaches and getting advice from others," said Warner's Kari Jung.

Jung is the leader of the class in terms of wins, picking up No. 801 on Thursday night in a Class B state quarterfinal sweep of Harding County. That's second to only former Parker coaching great Jill Christensen, who has the state's overall record for coaching victories at 837 in 36 years.

The list of top coaches at the state tournament includes Jung, Northwestern's Nora Groft and Sioux Falls Christian's Darci Wassenaar, who have all won at least 600 games. The 500-win club in Rapid City this week includes Chester's Jean O'Hara, Costain and Mitchell's Deb Thill, while Harding County's Tammy Bruha is closing in on that same threshold. Also impressive is that all seven have amassed their wins at only one school.

"We're all friends because we've been doing the same thing for so long," Thill said.

Wassenaar is fast approaching 700 career wins, and she's coached the Chargers to 13 state championships since she took over as coach in 2002. She said the credit goes to the athletes who put the team and the coaches in a position to flourish.

"We've just been blessed to have a lot of good athletes, a lot of good players," Wassenaar said. "As these girls watch older girls, and then they get to be in the program, and it just keeps growing. I think a lot of the coaches here have been coaching for a long time, and that just keeps growing, and you get to see a program really build over time."

The coaching leadership and position as a role model to young women is not lost on Thill and her peers either.

"It's really important to us women who stick it out to show young ladies that you can do it all," Thill said. "You can have a career. You can be a wife. You can be a mother. You can do all of those things. It's all possible. Those of us that are still here truly believe that, that women need to be in more leadership roles for other women."

Is there any reason why so many women coaches have stuck it out for long coaching tenures?

"I think it's just a fun sport. And maybe the males in the crowd don't know it as well as they do basketball, so we don't hear them yelling so much," Jung joked.

Groft said many of her coaching peers are deeply ingrained in their communities, which creates a special bond. She picked up her 700th win in August in 24 seasons at Northwestern.

"You know, our communities mean so much to us, I can't imagine not doing this," she said. "I mean, we've got the best job in the world. We get to help kids play a kid's game. What's more fun than that?"