New BVU volleyball coach Lori Slight inherits a team that was winless in the Iowa Conference last year.STORM LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) -
At Buena Vista, former Bishop Heelan head coach Lori Slight enters her first year at the helm of the volleyball program. Slight spent the past two season as the head coach at Creston High School.
It's not the first college stop for Slight. She spent three seasons at Northwest Missouri State, started the volleyball program at Des Moines Area Community College and was an assistant at BVU in '96 and '97.
Picked to finish last in the Iowa Conference preseason poll, Slight inherits a squad that finished 9-23 and went winless in league play. The Beavers return three starters from last year, and say the first step in turning the program around is gaining confidence in conference play.
"The best thing they've said to me is that we've got no where to go but up," said Slight. "Really, at the end of the day we didn't win a conference match last year. We have no where else to go but up. I think that not only becomes a challenge but can also be an advantage. If we start doing well, I think the sky is the limit for us."
"I think everyone is excited," said sophomore Courtney Van Haaften. "We've been working really hard and we can't wait to start playing games. I think this is a really good thing for us to have someone new come in...a new coaching staff."
"She just expects us to do well this year," said junior Chelsea Clayton. "Having that expectation makes us want to do well as a team and work together to get to that goal."
The Beavers begin the season Friday against Grinnell College at the Northwestern Minnesota invite.
