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The 2005 volleyball season will go down as one
of the most memorable in many ways for Hutchinson Community College assistant
volleyball coach Nicole Phillips.
Coming off a record-setting season of 2004,
everything looked to be in place for the Lady Dragons to be in the chase for a
national title in 2005. But as the season drew nearer, things began to unravel.
Three incoming players left the team and HCC's
returning All-America setter was declared ineligible by the NJCAA. Then
the biggest blow, head coach Ronda Shirley was forced to take a season-long
medical leave of absence after contracting a rare eye disorder.
Just days before the beginning of the 2005
season, Phillips was named interim head coach.
With all of that to contend with, Phillips
calmly guided the Lady Dragons through a rough early September where the Lady
Dragons went 8-6. After that, the Lady Dragons went on a tear, winning 26 of the
next 28 matches. HCC went undefeated to win the Jayhawk West for the
second-straight year and repeated as Region VI champions.
The Lady Dragons went 35-11 and finished
eighth in the NJCAA National Tournament under Phillips. Those 35 victories rank
her No. 5 on the all-time Lady Dragon volleyball coaching list.
In 2005, Phillips oversaw two NJCAA
All-Americans - Mariana Blum (first team) and Thais Franca (honorable mention)
as well as Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year Brandi Hood.
Phillips joined HCC’s volleyball
program in 2001 as part-time assistant coach. In January 2004, Phillips stopped working as a
graphic artist to become a full-time assistant with head coach Ronda Shirley.
During Phillips’ time at Hutchinson, the Lady
Dragon volleyball program has enjoyed unparalleled success.
HCC has a record of 186-52 and hasn’t won less
than 32 matches with Phillips on the bench. Phillips and the Lady Dragons won
their first Jayhawk West title and Region VI championship in school history in
2004 and also finished fifth in the NJCAA National Tournament.
This is her first coaching position after
graduating from McPherson College in 2001.
She played volleyball for the Bulldogs for
four years as an outside and right-side hitter. Phillips was a team captain in
her senior season and was an all-KCAC student-athlete for three years.
Phillips graduated from McPherson College with
a Bachelor of Science degree in dual majors: Communications and Business
Management.
Phillips is from Albert, Kan., graduating from
Otis-Bison High School in 1997. |
