The NC State women’s volleyball team welcomed Linda Hampton-Keith to replace Bryan Bunn as the new head coach.
Hampton-Keith is joining the Wolfpack after five years with Arizona State University. She was associate head coach in her last three seasons with the Sun Devils, leading the team to the NCAA tournament multiple times. She also had six seasons with Texas Christian University and 12 years with the USA Volleyball Development Program.
“The transition has been a whirlwind; my family isn’t even permanently here yet,” Hampton-Keith said. “What’s been awesome has been the support from the program. As crazy as it is, it’s been the most exciting and fulfilling part of my career. From the moment I stepped on campus it became clear that under Dr. Yow’s leadership, NC State athletics has moved in a direction that supports success at the highest levels. I am looking forward to partnering with the administration, our staff and our team to move our volleyball program in a direction befitting of the NC State vision.”
As well as addition of Hampton-Keith, the team also added Kevin Campbell and Nicki Holmes as assistant coaches to the roster for the 2016 season.
Hampton-Keith, Holmes and Campbell have toured the athletic facilities, as well as Reynolds Coliseum, which is slated for completion in August of this year; technically, before the start of the official volleyball season.
Spring training has started as of Jan. 14, but with a one-hour time limit, the new staff will take its time getting to know the team.
“Practice was great; obviously it was not a ton of time, but we have to maximize the time we do have,” Hampton-Keith said. “Spring is a great period to focus on yourself [as an athlete] and get better as a team.”
As for the upcoming weeks, Hampton-Keith has big plans for NC State women’s volleyball.
“We’re in an evaluation phase; we’ll take the rest of January for team time,” Hampton-Keith said. “Come February, we’ll help each athlete individually. A little after spring break we’ll have what we call a mini-season, where we can practice 20 hours a week and four days to compete. It allows us to see where we are at as a team but in a much less stressful environment.”
NC State finished the 2015 season 16-16 overall and 5-15 in the ACC conference. Bunn then stepped down at the conclusion of the season. With plenty of talent on the team, Hampton-Keith will have to implement the changes she and her staff feel necessary to flip those previous statistics around for the fall season. At this time the 2016 volleyball schedule has not been released.
“It’s about as good timing as you can get with a change like this,” Hampton-Keith said. “We’re really fortunate that the administration made volleyball a priority and was able to get staff in here quickly. Having the spring with the team meant we were able to hit the ground running as opposed to instead of coming in part way through.”
State lost two seniors at the conclusion of the 2015 season, Tanna Aljoe, Morgan Cormier, setter Maggie Speaks and libero Rachel Eppley return as the team’s only seniors this year.
“I look forward to really getting to know the team, each player individually, and just spend more time with them,” Hampton-Keith said. “They’re already a fantastic group of women and I look forward to being able to coach them and help them achieve their goals; I just cannot wait.”
