TTU coach instructs local volleyball squads
Tennessee Tech head volleyball coach Jennie Gilbert conducted a three-day team camp at Warren County High School this past week for the WCHS and WCMS volleyball teams.
Gilbert has been coaching for 14 years, and has been the head coach for the Lady Eagles for the past eight years. She was named 1997 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the year and has built a winning program at Tennessee Tech while stressing the importance of academics to her players. In 1996 the TTU volleyball team had the second-highest grade point average in the nation in NCAA Division I with a 3.55.
Coach Gilbert, with the help of Kelly Cannon, an MTSU volleyball player from Sparta, instructed the girls with an emphasis on defense.
“We are very fortunate to have such a skilled coach to come in here and help our girls,” WCHS head coach Franklin Fisher said of Gilbert, who held a similar camp with the Lady Pioneers last year. “It not only gives the girls a chance to meet and work with a college coach but it also gives me the opportunity to update my teaching skills.”
Fisher said he asked Gilbert to concentrate on defensive skills this year, such as blocking and defensive alignment on the court.
“The girls have soaked up a lot of knowledge the last three days, and after the second day of camp I could see a difference in our kids,” he said. “Coach Gilbert has made it fun for the girls and they have kept their focus on learning this week.
“The girls are becoming more aggressive at the net and we seem to have a better understanding of what we should be doing and where we need to be on the court. The last three days have given us all a new perspective of the game.”
The Lady Pioneers open their season at home this year Aug. 19 against Mt. Juliet Christian. Game time is set for 4 p.m.