With the start of the new year at Marian, we have many new faces and changes throughout the building. We have new staff, faculty, and coaches. Although we have some changes within the building this year, one thing we can always count on is those Friday night sports games.
In the volleyball program, we have two new coaches — Coach Witt and Coach Browne.
When interviewing Coach Browne, the new freshman volleyball coach, it’s clear how engaged she was with the freshman girls. The 23’-24’ school year is not only her first year coaching at Marian but also her first year of teaching biology. Coach Browne played volleyball and softball at the high school and club levels, she graduated from a Catholic high school in our conference and appreciates the community aspect of Catholic education. Coach Browne strongly emphasizes the Marian pillar of the community with her freshman volleyball program. Coach Browne’s connection to students in the classroom heavily reflects on the court. She loves being able to have a relationship with students as a teacher and as a coach. Coach Browne’s upbeat and fun coaching style with the freshmen makes her a great addition to the volleyball program. She loves coaching freshmen and when asked about her goals for the program, she expressed how excited she is to see the athletes she has coached excel to the JV and varsity level and compete.
Coach Witt, the Assistant Varsity volleyball coach, is also new to Marian this year as a teacher and coach. He played football and basketball all four years of high school and fell in love with volleyball during his freshman year. He explained how the more he saw the game, the more he was interested. Coach Witt currently plays in sand leagues, showing how his love for volleyball goes further than coaching. When asked, “Why Marian?”, he said his biggest reason was because he appreciates the mix of religion and education. He taught at a religious school prior to Marian and wanted to include the religious aspect into his job again. Coach Witt believes that he deals with them the same to an extent which is the most important, but how you feel about them is different. Overall, I can see how big sportsmanship is to Coach Witt and the volleyball program. He hopes that he can continue to see the girls get better and grow together as a team. The most important part of our volleyball program is that they want to be known as a program where students have fun, but also continue to excel.
