During his playing career, Andrean coach Grant Bell competed at some of the sport’s highest levels.
The California native played on a top-ranked high school team. He also played regularly in USA Volleyball national tournaments. Despite that high level of competition, however, there was one thing missing for Bell.
“We were always ranked in the top 10 in the country, but we never made it to that championship game,” he said. “To make it to the championship match is one of the biggest memories I have right now in terms of athletic competition.”
In his second season at Andrean, the Post-Tribune 2017 Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year led the 59ers to the program’s first state title.
Junior Serena Wagner, a Butler recruit, said it didn’t take long for the team to buy in to Bell’s philosophy.
“He seemed really eager to put is in a position to be a good team,” Wagner said of Bell. “And he was confident in what he was doing.
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“From the moment we started that summer, I realized — and a lot of other girls realized — that this was the coach who was going to take us all the way.”
Bell said he added some new wrinkles to his strategy for the 2017 season.
Andrean opened against Crown Point, the eventual state runner-up in Class 4A. While Andrean lost the match, the 59ers went to five games against a state-ranked team loaded with Division I talent.
“We did some different things this year on offense and defense,” Bell said. “When they saw it could work at a high level, they got excited. That’s when I knew we could have a great, successful season.”
By the time Andrean reached its semistate match against Alexandria Monroe, Bell’s confidence in his roster was unshakable.
“This was the No. 3 team in the state everybody said was going to beat us,” Bell said. “When we showed up and did what we did, that’s when I realized how deep, physical and athletic we were.
“Some teams had a couple of good players. But at any time, I had six players who could put the ball away, make a huge dig, get an awesome ace or make a block.”
Andrean reached the 3A semistate round in 2016, and Wagner said the extra push that came from Bell helped the 59ers reach the top of the 2A mountain in 2017.
“We had meetings before our season and we all said we wanted to win state,” Wagner said. “He always told us that we couldn’t just say it, we had to work toward it. We took that to heart.
“What he said to us at the start of the season pushed us to get to where we are now.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.