Longtime coach ready to lead Medora volleyball program

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MEDORA

Missy Stewart could have walked away from coaching, but her love for her community didn’t make that possible.

Stewart recently was named varsity volleyball coach at Medora High School, a title she’s proud to hold.

“I love this school,” she said. “Both of my kids graduated from here. It’s a family here. Everyone knows everyone.”

Stewart, a 1991 graduate, replaces Sara Todd, who coached the Hornets for six seasons.

While Stewart holds a new position, she’s very familiar with the program. She has coached in Medora for more than a decade.

She coached at the elementary and junior high levels for five years before getting hired as the junior varsity coach. The past five seasons, she has worked as both the JV coach/varsity assistant.

“I know most of the girls,” Stewart said. “I worked at the school a long time ago, and I used to (substitute teach) for some of them. Some of them are new faces. It started off a little scary this summer. We only had a couple girls coming to open gym, and we weren’t sure if we were going to have a team. Luckily, the numbers started trickling in. I had eight girls show up (recently).”

Stewart and Todd worked closely together over the years.

“I learned a lot from Sara,” Stewart said. “She is a really good coach and really good friend. We played together in high school. She was a year older than me. She knew a lot of good drills, which I learned from her. The game has changed a lot over the years, and she stayed up on that.

“I was going to hang it up with Sara. I just thought about how I love the sport and I love the school. I want to keep it going. I thought why not keep going as long as I can.”

Stewart said she’s more of a laid-back coach and doesn’t use yelling and screaming as a tactic. She said she’s excited for the season and expects her four seniors to help lead the team.

She and her husband, Ross, have two kids, Kirk and Kaitlyn.

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