MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – New Trinity Christian volleyball coach Kate Dlugos is more than familiar with her new team and school.
Dlugos is from Morgantown and attended Trinity during her high school year — her father, Todd, is on the board at the school. After playing volleyball for Glenville State, she has returned to Morgantown to be closer to her family as she pursues a degree in elementary education at WVU.
Dlugos came about the position through some of her friends in Young Life, a Christian ministry, who are current members of the Warriors volleyball program.
“One of the girls asked me if I’d be interested in coaching and I first I was unsure about it but the more I thought about it and prayed about it, I felt like it would be a great opportunity to give back to the school that helped me in my volleyball career so much and I was just excited to be able to play volleyball again and help these girls,” she said.
With the team starting practice and its season this month, Dlugos is finding out where the team stands and how they mesh together and plans on moving forward into position skill training.
“I like to teach them a skill, let them try it out and learn from their mistakes and just help them figure out the process of learning new skills and building on what they already have,” she said.
Though Dlugos has not been with the program very long, they have made a lasting impression on her, and she hopes to do the same.
“I think we’re going to have a really fun season. The girls that are on the team are super great, we’ve had a lot of fun already. My main intention of coaching this season is to have fun and help these girls make memories with their teammates,” she said.
Among the team’s senior players is Elliana Cepeda, who played with the Warriors last year after moving to the area from Pittsburgh. Her time with Dlugos has been positive and also informative.
“I think [Dlugos] is doing a really great job building team relationships and making sure the team focus is fun while still helping us get better,” Cepeda said.
Cepeda said she values the fresh set of eyes for her play and the new ideas and understanding of the game that a new coach will bring. She is also excited for the Warriors out of conference games for the skilled competition they bring.
“I’m excited when we play out of conference schools that are bigger, so there is more competition and we’ll get better from those games,” she said.
Dlugos has been welcomed by her upperclassmen players and has noted their devotion to being together as a team.
“We have a few older girls who are more experienced and have a lot of skill and we have a lot of younger girls who are new to volleyball. It’s been really awesome to see the older girls help the younger girls,” Dlugos said.
“I think it will be a learning season for all of us but I also think it will be a very fun time. We’ll definitely make a lot of memories for sure.”
The Warriors open their season Sept. 2 on the road against Bridgeport Heritage.
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