Big Bend hires volleyball coach

MOSES LAKE - Allison Baker is the new head volleyball coach at Big Bend Community College. Baker takes over the position vacated by Natalie Coulston who resigned after one season when she and her husband moved out of state in January.

"This is my first coaching job, so I am really excited for the opportunity," Baker said. "I'm a little nervous because I wanted to start out as an assistant coach and get my feet under me ... have some time to figure things out ... but I feel I am up to the challenge. I have a good assistant who has been doing a lot of recruiting at Big Bend, so I am looking forward to getting started."

Baker will graduated from the University of Idaho in May. She is an accomplished volleyball player, having been named First-Team All Conference in the Western Athletic Conference the past three years.

"We are pleased to announce Allison has accepted the position of head volleyball coach at Big Bend," Athletic Director Preston Wilks said. "She had a stellar volleyball career at the University of Idaho, spent a number of years playing club volleyball, was a member of the "Bring it USA" team that played in China, and was invited to attend an Olympic tryout event."

Baker grew up in the Columbia Basin and graduated from Othello High School in 2009. And although see is just a couple years older than the women she'll be coaching on the Lady Vikings squad, Baker said she doesn't think it will hinder her report with the players.

"I'm not worried about being that close to the age of my players," Baker said. "I think I know a lot about volleyball and hope they respect that. As far as my coaching style goes, we're going to be sound fundamentally. This game is all about momentum, so we want to be smart players who know how to play smart."