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2019 Volleyball Coaching Announcement

By Kelly Vang, 01/14/19, 10:00AM CST

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2019 Volleyball Coaching Announcement

Blake Volleyball Community,

 

The Blake Athletic Department is writing to inform you that the girls volleyball program is reorganizing its coaching staff, shifting Leesa Malone to interim varsity head coach for the 2019 Fall season, and transitioning Steve Kaback to a more comprehensive role as director of volleyball operations.


Leesa is thrilled at the opportunity to continue the growth of the Blake Girls Volleyball program. She served as Coach Kaback’s top assistant last year and is ready to grow into her new role as varsity head coach. Leesa has been coaching volleyball for the last six years. She has coached two season as a head coach at Crossfire Volleyball and has coached summers at Bethel University, University of Northwestern, Eden Prairie High School, and Fridley High School.

 

Currently, Leesa works for Ronald McDonald House Charities as a Relief Manager. She resides in Eden Prairie with her husband LeRoy.

 

“We as a coaching staff, are excited to build upon what is going well in the volleyball program and look to grow the program in the coming years. I love the quote that says, ‘It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort and when you bring effort every single day. That’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.’  I’m looking forward to getting in the gym and working with the girls to make them not only great athletes but also great women.” -Leesa Malone

 

We are pleased to note that Elizabeth Miller will be returning to her junior varsity coaching role and Joe Xiong will return as Middle School coach.  Coach Kaback’s role is built to create continuity across all teams with a focus on working with individual players and developing younger talent. He will oversee operations of the entire volleyball program, while having Coach Malone be in charge of the day-to-day mechanics of the varsity team.  

 

“As we looked back at the past two season, the coaching staff and athletic department saw a need to bring players along faster, improving their skills and court awareness with more one-on-one attention during the season.  Coach Malone’s energy, high volleyball I.Q., and great emotional connection with the players will make her a fantastic leader for the varsity program, giving me the freedom to connect with players up and down the program. We have a lot of work to do, and believe that with this coaching structure in place, we will be able to optimize the talents of our young upcoming teams.” -Steve Kaback

 

A new varsity assistant coach will also be hired to assist Coach Malone.

 

Go Bears!

Nick Rathmann | Director of Athletics