Donna Pixley loves the little details.
She took two years off from coaching high school volleyball after 21 years at Dunham to watch her youngest daughter, Caylin, compete at Mississippi College.
Pixley enjoyed watching her daughter compete, but watching from the stands made her recognize how hard it is not to coach.
“I did not have a hard time just sitting up there and being quiet,” Pixley said, “but my brain was always working.”
Pixley made her return to high school volleyball as coach at St. Joseph’s Academy this season. She has more than 600 wins and 10 district titles over 21 seasons as coach at Dunham, winning two state titles.
She coaches club volleyball for Red Storm Volleyball, but there were aspects about the high school side she missed. She enjoys getting to see her players every day, working toward a state championship. She can get to know her team better and make adjustments faster, seeing what they struggle with and where they need growth on the court.
St. Joseph’s rich tradition made the program appealing for Pixley to return to high school volleyball.
“Their desire to win and bring state championships back here,” Pixley said, “I wanted that challenge.”
The job brings many firsts for Pixley. This is the first time she’s coached at an all-girls school. This is her first time she’s coached at the Class 5A level. And one of the most exciting firsts — she has 50 girls in her program.
Her desire as a coach is to develop strong, independent young women who will speak out for themselves and earn self-respect and respect from others. She is excited about the opportunity to do that with a program of that size.
She has four teams split amongst the 50 girls, wanting them to have the opportunity to compete. The chance to get better showed Tuesday night when Pixley started freshman Madison Mann against state power St. Thomas More.
The freshman earned her spot after standing out on the freshman team, which gave her the chance to work with her immediate peers in her first year of high school.
Pixley credited her coaching staff for helping her adjust to St. Joseph’s quickly and making sure everyone was on the same page. She is just the fourth coach in the program’s history, with the former three being Hall of Famers.
“I have a little bit of I guess pressure, if you perceive it that way, to excel because that is the expectation,” she said. “But just being able to stay calm and work one day at a time.”
The expectation to win stays the same, but Pixley is focused on coaching her way. She’s made changes to the program, including one her team has loved — riding the bus for road games.
She also makes sure they don’t have their phones during bus rides to build bonds and learn to deal with issues after road losses.
“Just building the culture in my way,” Pixley said, “just what I’m comfortable with in my leadership has grown on the kids. As long as they understand the why behind what I’m doing, then I can get them on board.”
Changes, like the bus rides, have made the bond between the team much closer for seniors Emmy Neumann and Gracie Mann.
“The bus rides are the best thing,” Neumann said.
The two agreed that the best bus ride was to Dutchtown. The match ended in a 3-2 win for SJA, which made the bus ride back even sweeter.
“We started playing, ‘All I Do Is Win,’ ” Neumann said. “The whole bus was shaking. It was crazy.”
The DJ Khaled classic, “Breakin’ Dishes” by Rihanna is another staple track the team plays on bus rides.
Her coaching style is embraced by Neumann, who loves the challenges Pixley brings. If they mess up a drill, Pixley is quick to say to run it again, or the team is running.
“That brings respect to me,” Neumann said. “She knows I can do better. It’s really just pushed me to be better, and I think this is probably my best season.”
The desire to be better and force opponents into mistakes is what Neumann relishes about the sport.
“I’m a holly-jolly person out in the open,” she said. “But once I get onto the volleyball court, I can be as mean as I want. That’s where I get to release.”
She’s seen the most growth in her mindset under Pixley. Her coach has helped spark confidence in the senior and given her the ability to believe in herself each time she plays. She sees that in her team too, noting this is the hardest they’ve worked in practice and in matches.