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In West Plains, Mo., Trish Kissiar-Knight has a street named in her honor, something most volleyball coaches probably don't have.
To get that kind of recognition as Texas Tech's new volleyball coach, Kissiar-Knight will have to take the program from a losing to winning culture.
Easier said than done.
Kissiar-Knight was named the sixth Tech volleyball coach Dec. 23. She inherits a Red Raider volleyball team coming off its worst season in school history at 5-26 overall and 0-20 in Big 12 Conference play.
Kissiar-Knight said she is well aware of the challenge ahead of her, considering that rebuilding volleyball programs are a specialty of hers.
"It's one of those things where every job I've ever taken has been a challenge," she said. "Obviously, I'm gonna have to build one there too. I'm one of those people who never hide from competition. I kinda just get into the fact that, 'Yeah, we're the underdog, a little bit of building to do.' It's such a great challenge and I look forward to that."
Kissiar-Knight's history of turning around programs goes back to her coaching days at West Plains High School, where she won four consecutive Class 4A state championships in 13 years. The season before she started, the team was 1-12. In her first season, the team went 12-2.
She went on to start the volleyball program at Missouri State-West Plains in 1993 and turned it into one of the top junior college programs in the nation. In her 15-year tenure there, she compiled a 645-156-3 record, leading the Grizzlies to 11 NJCAA Tournament appearances. She had her team in the championship game in the 2002 and 2003 seasons. After winning a regional championship in 1999, her team successfully defended that title for nine years. She also has coached 23 NJCAA All-Americans.
She has 12 Region 16 Coach of the Year awards, an NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame and a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame induction on her resume.
Kissiar-Knight has served as the program director for the Junior Olympics volleyball team, taught physical education at Missouri State-West Plains, and was named Citizen of the Year in 2001 by the Greater West Plains Area Chamber of Commerce.
Even with all the success, Kissiar-Knight has never coached a Division-I team or at the Division-I level.
She has coached against Division-I programs and her 28 years of experience is something Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers said was too much to pass up.
"She's been a junior college coach, but I think her record speaks for itself," said Myers, who declined to reveal the other coaching candidates. "She's just been one of the top women's volleyball coaches for a long time. We did have a national search. We had four really quality coaches - four good coaches. I thought any one would've been a good coach, but we felt Trish was the best fit for Texas Tech."
Tech's former coach, Nancy Todd, stepped down Dec. 1. Her assistant coaches, Mike Moffitt and Beth Karasek are no longer on staff.
Terry Gamble, who referred Kissiar-Knight to Myers, will join Tech's staff as an assistant coach. Gamble is the former head coach of Iowa Western, also an NJCAA team. He will bring his assistant coach Becky Verespej, whose volleyball career includes playing at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. There she was team captain and named to the All-Conference team for two seasons.
Kissiar-Knight said her and Gamble already are on campus and hope to meet the team members soon. She said she has talked to some players over the holiday break, such as All-Big 12 Conference Freshman selection Amanda Dowdy.
Players were not available for comment at press time.
Kissiar-Knight will attempt to rebuild a program that has had seven-straight losing seasons. A difficult task in the Big 12, which boasts perennial powerhouses such as Nebraska, Texas and Kansas State.
"It takes a lot of work," she said. "I'm used to working hard. My dad taught me how to work hard. I've always had a great work ethic, and I think you just have to outwork the other people. It takes a little luck along the way maybe too, but you definitely got to outwork them."
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