For as long as I can remember, the volleyball court has been my place of peace.

Maybe it's the smell of the gym, the sound of the volleyball bouncing on the floor, or just the overall environment. Or maybe it's all of the above?! I can't quite put my finger on it.

The only thing I know is being in the gym makes me feel alive.

When I was younger, I was always able to leave everything else at the door.  Family issues, friends, school work, etc.  If only for a few hours, this was my one place to let it all go. It was the only place for me to just live in the moment.

In many ways, it's still that place for me.

When one door closes, another opens

My first recollection of playing volleyball was with an old Wal-Mart type net pitched up in my fifth-grade cafeteria. We would just rotate on the floor, and everybody played every position.

Even back then, there was something that just drew me to the sport of volleyball. Perhaps because I was the only girl who could serve the ball overhand from the end line.

In college, I was cut from the team my freshman year.  Talk about being devastated.

I remember crying after hearing the news and asking if I could be a manager to stay involved. To be fair, I was a 5-foot-4 setter and probably a better fast-pitch softball player than I was a volleyball player.

So, I kept playing softball, while also continuing to invest time into learning as much as I could about volleyball. I wasn't about to let one disappointing moment ruin my love for the sport. I worked really hard that off-season and was given a spot on the volleyball team as a sophomore.  Although that was my only year to compete on the volleyball team, I played softball the remainder of my college career.

It didn't take long for me to figure out that I needed to pursue a career in coaching. I may not have been the best volleyball player, but I was determined to become a great student of the sport and better coach. After I graduated, I became a high school volleyball and track coach.

Deep down, I always knew I wanted to coach at the collegiate level.

That's when I got my master's degree and started doing a little bit of everything—assistant coaching for a Division III volleyball team, working as the fast-pitch softball coach, teaching physical education courses, and working as an intramural director.
I proudly wore whatever hat was thrown on my head.

But wearing so many hats came with plenty of challenges, and it was time for me to come to an important realization - if you want to do something well, you can't do ten things at once.
I had to look in the mirror and ask what I really wanted out of my career.

And fortunately, that answer came pretty easily.

Volleyball! Frankly, it was always volleyball.

So, I went on a national search and sent resumes around the world.

Somehow, someway, despite being from the Minneapolis area, I ended up accepting an offer as an assistant at Texas Tech before the head coaching job opened up at SMU. I went from getting cut from a team in my first year in college to being a Division I head coach.
I never let my pride become greater than my love for the sport, and it made all of the difference.

Trophies come in different sizes

Imagine my surprise when I was offered a job from a school without a volleyball program. There was literally nothing at SMU—no team, court, locker room, or any training equipment. I was basically given the reins to build the program from the ground up.
All I could think about was what an amazing opportunity it would be.

I spent at least the first two months living on campus in a dormitory. I needed to learn everything I could about the school to sell it to potential recruits.
My mission since the very beginning has been simple. I wanted to bring national attention to SMU volleyball, and I was going to do it with integrity. The culture I wanted to instill was one based on work ethic and being passionate about your craft along with respecting all people.

I did a lot of camps and clinics as a younger coach to help prepare me for that moment.
As I said earlier, I wasn't a great player, and I had to do a lot of listening, learning, and reading to develop my own philosophies. Some of the best coaching advice I've ever received came from one of my mentors, Jeannine McHaney.
She was going through treatment for her cancer that had just come back at the time when the SMU job came open. We talked about the position, and she told me what an amazing opportunity it would be to have a shot at building something from scratch.
She also left me with this gem.

"I'll tell you something, Lisa," she said. "The one thing you can't let get in your way is the one thing you actually need: your passion."

I'm incredibly passionate and protective of the people I coach, have coached, and work with.  I am also very competitive.  I hate to lose more than I love to win.  My trophies are the relationships I've built with my alumni, current players, staff, and anyone that surrounds the program. Those are the real trophies for me.

They're the reasons why I do what I do.

From the ground up

Don't get me wrong, I'm still very proud of the fact that we've been able to bring national recognition from the success we've had at SMU.

We've had All-Americans, won conference championships, been in the NCAA tournament, received votes, and been ranked. I actually hit 400 wins in 2019 and didn't even realize it.

The Director of Public Relations popped his head in my office and said, "Hey, congrats, Coach." I just stared blankly at him. I had no idea what happened until he told me.
Then I was like, "Oh, wow, okay."

I think that comes from the head-down mentality of chasing success for the program and the kids on my team. Whatever comes with that comes with it.

I never get caught up in my own accomplishments. As a leader, you are last on the list of priorities. "The show" is never about the head coach.  Everything that we've accomplished is thanks to every player and staff member that has contributed to the program.

One of my favorite moments was winning our first conference championship. While I watched the team cut the net down, I reflected on the first class that signed and thought they are the ones that helped me start this thing.  This is for them too! Through blood, sweat, and tears, those alumni won seven matches that first year. And now, there we were celebrating a conference title.

Sometimes, when I reflect on my life's journey, it's really fascinating how all of my pathways led me right back to volleyball.

At the end of the day, even as a coach, no place makes me feel more alive and at peace than a volleyball court.