Texas Tech University Athletics
The New Head Coaches To-Do List
April 24, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
April 24, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - After being named Texas Tech Head Volleyball Coach in late December, Trish Kissiar-Knight has been busy. Chief on her to-do list, behind relocating her family to Lubbock and getting to know the players on her squad, was building a new staff and recruiting.
Check. Check. Check and ongoing check.
Terry Gamble and Becky Verespej joined Kissiar-Knight as her assistant coaches, moving as Kissiar-Knight did from highly successful careers on the junior college circuit to the DI level in one of the nation's most challenging conferences.
Gamble comes to Tech after four years at Iowa Western Community College where he won a national championship in 2006 (and was the AVCA's national coach of the year) and a six-year stretch at St. Clair Community College (Port Huron, Mich.), with two more national championships (2000 and 2004) on his resume. He got his start as a head coach at Mott CC and spent four seasons in Flint, Mich. His 795-143 overall head coaching record also includes 11 conference championships and six regional championships. His teams were top-20 in each of his 15 years.
"When the possibility of Texas Tech came up, Terry Gamble was the first person I thought about as an assistant. I have always admired and respected him and what he was able to do with his programs. I knew he would be knowledgeable, hard working, and not be afraid of a challenge," Coach Kissiar-Knight said recently.
"He is doing an excellent job and I definitely picked the right person. I can't wait to see what we can do as a staff."
In his first few months on the job at Texas Tech he has been doing a good deal of recruiting, along with working at practices in every phase of the game.
"I've been doing a lot of traveling," Gamble told a reporter in Port Huron recently. "It's a great challenge and I'm excited to get players to Tech who can help make us competitive for the years to come."
Fortuitously, one of his first recruits was inking his former assistant coach of eight years, Becky Verespej, to complete Kissiar-Knight's volleyball staff.
"Having Becky come with Terry has added consistency to what we teach on the court," Kissiar-Knight said of her new second assistant.
Verespej played volleyball at Mott CC where she was named twice to the MCCAA All Conference and All Region teams. She finished her college volleyball career at Aquinas College earning Wolverine Hoosier All Conference honors twice. Verespej was also a team captain for three years during her college career.
"Becky works hard and has been such an asset with our recruiting efforts. She also is great at researching players and has been able to help us find some athletes who will help us build this program to where we want it to be," Kissiar-Knight added. "She also understands technology and how to use it to help build our program."
The staff at Texas Tech, including administrative assistant Theresa Bowman and strength and conditioning coach, Katie Munger, have also melded into a cohesive group which Kissiar-Knight is happy to have found in place.
"I would also like to highlight Theresa for all her help. She has been invaluable to us as a staff. It really helped having someone who knew the ropes and where to go when things needed to get done. She has made our transition here so easy."
"As a staff, I feel like we will out-work anyone to get the job done. We all came from successful programs and we intend to build the same success here. Work ethic is a huge strength that we all have. We are instilling this work ethic in our players and helping them find success. We expect a lot out of ourselves and we have the same expectations of our players."
The spring season of practice and game time competitions have provided the new staff with the opportunity to review current systems and schemes, install new strategies and get to know players in game-time situations.
"Discipline is another strength that my entire staff has. Not just Terry, Becky, and myself, but Katie Munger as well. We also have a great athletic training staff," Kissiar-Knight continued.
"With the support that the Texas Tech administration is giving us, we are so excited about the possibilities for Texas Tech volleyball. I have really enjoyed the first few months as a Red Raider. The community and alumni are so supportive. We have all the ingredients to build something really good here and we plan on doing just that," she added.
And, then there was the matter of being inducted into the Missouri State University-West Plains Hall of Fame, which, while not on her own to-do list, was a fitting send off and well-earned honor from the place she had toiled for 16 years.
The following tribute is an excerpt from a press release courtesy of Dr. Herb Lunday, Missouri State University-West Plains:
When officials at Missouri State University-West Plains began searching for a qualified coaching candidate to establish a new volleyball program in 1993, they didn't have to look far to find a proven winner. Just across town at West Plains High School was one of the state's premier volleyball coaches, and she was ready for a new challenge.
"It's a neat thing to build a program and see it grow," said former Grizzly Head Volleyball Coach Trish Kissiar-Knight, the first coach to be inducted into the Grizzly Hall of Fame. "Building the Grizzly program was a special opportunity, and it will always be a great memory for me, no matter where I am."
Knight came to Missouri State-West Plains with a tradition of winning excellence, both as a player and as a coach. She was part of the Licking High School girls' volleyball team that won the first-ever Missouri State High School Championship in that sport in 1975; she helped lead the Missouri State University VolleyBears to four consecutive trips to the AIAW National Championships from 1976 to 1979, finishing in the top 15 each year; and she took over a young, struggling high school program at West Plains and turned it around to one of the most successful programs in the state in the 1980s and early 1990s. Knight guided the West Plains Zizzers to a 328-73-23 record during her 14-year tenure, including a string of 87 consecutive victories between 1985 and 1988. Under her tutelage, the Zizzers won four consecutive Missouri Class 4A state volleyball championship trophies from 1984 to 1987 and two third-place trophies in 1990 and 1991. She also developed 11 all-state volleyball players.
With that kind of resume, it only seemed fitting that Missouri State-West Plains came knocking on Knight's door in 1993. And, just as she had with the Zizzers, Knight quickly established the Grizzlies as one of the best two-year programs in the nation. During Knight's 16-year tenure with the Grizzlies, the team amassed a record of 676-170-3 (80 percent winning margin), earned 10 consecutive Region 16 championships from 1999-2008, and made 10 consecutive appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women's National Volleyball Championship Tournament, reaching the championship match in 2002 and 2003. She developed 25 NJCAA All-Americans, including 13 first-team selections, and eight NJCAA Academic All-Americans, including three Distinguished Academic All-Americans. In addition, the Grizzlies received the NJCAA's Fall Academic Team of the Year honor five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008) during her tenure with the team.
"The biggest thing Trish brings to any program is that she cannot stand to lose. She wants to win, and that desire to win has made her successful," said long-time Grizzly Assistant Volleyball Coach Paula Wiedemann, who is now the team's head coach.
Wiedemann should know. Before becoming Knight's assistant in 1997, she competed against her as head coach of the East Central College volleyball team.
When Wiedemann became Knight's assistant coach, she discovered another key to Knight's success as a coach. "She knows how to get things out of players that they've never done before. She knows how to get players out of their comfort zone, knowing in the long run, it will pay off," Wiedemann explained.
Knight also promotes a collaborative coaching style that breeds success in her programs. "As an assistant, she made me a big part of what was going on," Wiedemann said. "She allowed me to be vocal and bring my strengths to the table. Maybe we didn't always agree with each other, but we always respected each other."
These coaching qualities have led to several personal accolades for Knight while at Missouri State-West Plains. She earned 12 NJCAA Region 16 Coach of the Year honors, 10 NJCAA District Coach of the Year honors, two American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Tachikara Junior College/Community College Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors, and was elected to the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005. She also was named Most Caring Coach by USAToday Weekend Magazine in 2005, was inducted to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in February 2008, and was inducted in the Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.
While all of the statistics, accolades and accomplishments are impressive, Knight said, the most pleasing part of her coaching experience with the Grizzlies was her interaction with the players and the community. "My greatest memories are of all the wonderful players I coached and what they are doing with their lives now," she said. "As a coach, you have a unique opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. You can give kids a chance to better themselves that they probably wouldn't have had otherwise.
"I've also made some wonderful, lifetime friendships with the Grizzly fans and the people of West Plains," she continued. "West Plains is a special place, and I'll always have wonderful memories of the people there. Being named to the Grizzly Hall of Fame is a great honor, one I'll always cherish."
--
And, if her career has taught us anything, it's that when Trish Kissiar-Knight puts something on her to-do list, get ready to see it done. Check.
Kissiar-Knight's Missouri State-West Plains Career Stats, by the numbers
Cumulative Record: 676-170-3 (.800)
Overall Region 16 Record: 212-15 (.895)
Region 16 Championships: 10 (1999-2008)
Overall Region 16 Tournament Record: 45-6 (.882)
All-Region 16 Selections: 79 (54 different players)
All-Region 16 First-Team Selections: 55 (39 different players)
NJCAA National Tournament Appearances: 10
Overall NJCAA National Tournament Record: 23-15 (.605)
NJCAA All-Tournament Selections: 16 (11 different players)
NJCAA All-American Selections: 25 (15 different players)
NJCAA All-American First-Team Selections: 13 (10 different players)
NJCAA Academic All-Americans: 8 (3 Distinguished Academic All-Americans)
NJCAA Fall Academic Team Selections: 5
