A change at the top has the Live Oak volleyball team on solid ground these days.
It is a bit of a cliché, but it’s not unusual to hear the term culture change when a new coach is hired to lead a program. While the term itself gets tossed around a good bit, its meaning is that a program is looking for a new start that raises expectations.
For Live Oak, that came earlier this summer when it hired Kenedi Stephens as its head coach. “It was a long summer,” Stephens said last week after a District 5-1 match at Prairieville. “Live Oak had a reputation of not being the greatest so we came in wanting to change that. We broke it down to the fundamentals.”
The Eagles were on point at Prairieville, where they improved to 12-9 overall and 2-0 in league play with a 3-1 win. The two district wins equal Live Oak’s total for the previous two seasons combined, and they have the Eagles thinking about making a first playoff appearance for the first time since 2018.
That would qualify as a culture change.
“In the beginning of the season, we were trying to get our lineup straight, trying to see who needed to play where. I feel like once we fixed our lineup, we were fine,” Stephens said. “Once we did that, and we cleaned up our serves and our defense, we’ve been on a roll.”
The Eagles service work was particularly effective against Prairieville with 13 aces. Libero Taylor Mattingly led with five aces while Victoria Brand had three. Outside hitting was also a factor, and the Eagles got good numbers from familiar faces — Peyton Shields finished with 17 kills and Da’Miaya Dunn had 14.
Shields said the Eagles are seeing the results of good preparation.
“I think it’s about practice,” she said. “We import what we work on into our games.”
Shields also pointed out the importance of communication and teamwork.
“Communication has been a big thing for us. We’ve lacked it in some games, but in games when it’s up, that’s when we play our best. When our energy is high, that’s when we play our best.”
So far, Stephens has gotten her team’s best efforts more times than not. It certainly appears that the Eagles have bought into her coaching philosophy.
“I love having coach Kenedi here. She’s the best coach I’ve ever had,” Shields said. “It’s really helped us, and its changed us for the better. We might practice a lot, but it really helps us in the long run.”