A new era … in more ways than one

The Nicholls State University volleyball team made history last week — twice in the same day.

The program announced on Thursday that its hired Kallie Noble as its new head coach — the beginning of a new era for a team which struggled last year under first-year coach Jay Van Vark, who resigned following the season.

In announcing Noble, Athletic Director Matt Roan also announced that Nicholls will be adding a new sport in the future, adopting beach volleyball as an official sport, beginning in the spring of 2019.

Noble will also be the coach of the beach volleyball team in its inaugural season.

Roan said Noble is a great fit — a talented young coach who is going to spark life into a Colonels’ program.

They desperately need it, having won just six combined Southland Conference matches in the past 3 seasons.

“We are fortunate and proud to be able to announce Kallie Noble as the newest member of the Colonel family and the next head volleyball coach here at Nicholls,” Roan said. “We were intrigued with Kallie’s experience in the region and as a head coach, and we were imrpessed by her commitment to creating a ‘Championship Experience.’ At her core, Kallie is a teacher who will recruit, lead and mentor the young women in our program to experience success on the court, in the classroom and in their lives.”

“I cannot thank Dr. Jay Clune, Matt Roan, Lindsey McKaskle and the entire search committee enough for this opportunity and for their commitment to building the Nicholls volleyball program,” Noble added. “I am eager to get to know those in the Thibodaux community and share in the pride of their Colonels.”

The Nicholls job is a tough one. The team’s struggles are deep and have been going on for quite some time.

But the Colonels believe strongly that Noble’s experience will be able to lead the team out of its rut and into calmer, more prosperous seas.

Noble was last an assistant coach at Memphis from 2014-17, helping coach 17 American Athletic Conference Honor Roll players, three defensive players of the week and two All-Conference performers.

Before that, Noble got head coaching experience, leading the University of St. Thomas from 2012-14. In that time, her teams qualified for back-to-back Red River Athletic Conference Tournaments, including a bid in the 2012 NAIA National Championship Tournament.

Noble is a native of Peru, Indiana, but this will not be her first days living in Louisiana, nor coaching in the Southland Conference. Early in her coaching career, Noble was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of New Orleans from 2007-08. She also was an assistant at Tulane from 2009-2012. In her time in Louisiana, Noble owned the Cajun Wave and Cajun Beach Wave Volleyball Clubs.

In the release issued by Nicholls announcing the hire, several coaches around the country lauded Noble as Nicholls’ selection. UC-San Diego assistant coach Jaye Loyd said she’s going to make an instant impact with the Colonels.

“Nicholls is not only getting a great coach, but a phenomenal person,” Loyd said. “Kallie is one of the most passionate, knowledgeable and relatable coaches I have ever worked with. I’m confident the Nicholls volleyball program is in good hands and I look forward to following their successes.”

BEACH VOLLEYBALL ADDS TO COLONELS’ PROGRAM

Beach volleyball has grown quickly around the country.

By adding the sport for the spring, the Colonels will join several other programs in Louisiana who compete in the popular sport.

The Colonels’ indoor volleyball team will make up the inaugural beach volleyball. Former indoor standout Emily Weimer will also join the beach volleyball team, utilizing her final season of eligibility as a collegiate student-athlete.

The sport was approved by the NCAA in 2009 and, when approved, the goal was to have 40 schools competing by 2014 — a number which was easily surpassed.

In beach volleyball, opponents play five doubles matches (2-on-2). The format of the matches is rally point scoring and the best two out of three sets. The first team to secure three victories among the five matches is the victor.

Schools must play eight matches in their season over 16 play dates. Most programs play several times in a weekend or in tournaments around the country.

The Colonels join Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, UNO, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi as Southland schools with the sport.

The league announced it plans to have an official conference championship in 2020.

Several other conferences already have championships and the NCAA has an official postseason tournament to crown a national champion.

Kallie Noble

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