New leaders take over volleyball programs

The prep volleyball season began with sort of a changing of the guard among Gila Valley Region schools. Three of the four local 5A programs have new coaches this year. Yuma High's Charlie Klemp is the only returning coach in the region.

Kofa and Cibola will renew their rivalry with Julie Kaulius on the bench for the Raiders, and Michigan transplant Lindy Scripps-Hoekstra calling the shots for the Kings. And Darcy Wilson will attempt to bring some stability to the San Luis program.

Kaulius hails from Vancouver, British Columbia. She played volleyball and basketball at Boise State, and spent last season as an assistant on Arizona Western College coach Jason Smith's staff.

"It's a much slower tempo (than college), but it's the same fundamentals everywhere you go," Kaulius said. "I learned a lot from Jason Smith."

Kaulius wasn't looking for a head coaching position - Cibola pursued her. She added that her biggest change was going from stay-at-home mom to spending all day as a full-time teacher and nights coaching volleyball.

But Kaulius said she's adjusted to the change, and her players are adapting to the change on the bench as well.

"I think they're responding well to me," she said. "I expect a lot out of them - maybe too much sometimes. I have to remember that they are in high school."

Scripps-Hoekstra is new to the Yuma area. She played college volleyball at NCAA Division III Calvin College and coached club teams around Michigan. But Kofa is her first varsity head coaching position.

Ironically, Kofa's previous coach, Brian Petzold, now fills Kaulius' role at AWC.

"It's different coming back down from college to high school," Scripps-Hoekstra said. "For me, the biggest challenge is getting adjusted to the way Arizona volleyball works. It's just a little bit different from Michigan where volleyball is a year-round thing for a lot of girls."

Wilson is a first-year volleyball coach. She previously coached basketball and track at Weber High in Ogden, Utah.

"I heard a lot of good things about the girls and I really liked the area," Wilson said. "My biggest challenge is getting the girls to trust me. They've had a lot of different coaches over the years so there just hasn't been any consistency."