After the unexpected news of assistant volleyball coach Erin McClanahan’s acceptance of the head coaching job at Prosper High School, head coach Ryan Mitchell was left with the task of finding a new assistant coach to accompany him in running the Leopard volleyball program.
He recently made his selection, coach Jennifer Nance.
Coach Nance was selected by Mitchell to fill McClanahan’s spot because of her volleyball history.
“I played volleyball at the University of Oklahoma; after I graduated I moved to Texas and have been the head volleyball coach at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland for the last 6 years,” Nance said. “Before I arrived at LCHS it was rare for them to win any district games. Every year our record has improved, which lead to this last season when we made it to playoffs for the first time in the school’s history.”
Seeing the value that Nance brought to LCHS, Mitchell believed that she could be an asset to the Leopards.
Nance saw the job opening on the Texas Girls Coaches Association website and decided to apply. And so began her long interview process.
“After applying for the position I went through a variety of interviews,” Nance said. “The first interview was a phone interview with Coach Mitchell about my volleyball experience and coaching philosophy/style. The second interview was with Mr. Messer in which we discussed the academic side of things. After that I had a panel interview which included both athletic and academic questions and lastly, I had a follow-up interview, which included Mr. Goodrich and I met Mr. Moore.”
Nance was offered the job and gladly accepted. Along with being the assistant volleyball coach, Nance will be teaching photojournalism.
“I am so excited to be part of such a prestigious volleyball program! I love being a part of good volleyball and I know that is what I will be getting when I come to Lovejoy,” Nance said. “I have been to a couple practices and have met some of the girls. They work hard and have high expectations for themselves and each other. I look forward to what we can accomplish next season.”
