Kistler begins new era for PHS volleyball

Posted 8/13/15

Kistler officially begins her first season as head coach of the Powell High School volleyball team Monday morning, when the Panthers hit the gym at 6 a.m. for the first of two practices.

The first week will focus on fitness and team bonding, the …

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Kistler begins new era for PHS volleyball

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First-year coach stresses importance of ‘team unity’

Morgan Kistler describes herself as “super competitive,” and believes that the best way to quench her thirst for victory is through total team effort.

Kistler officially begins her first season as head coach of the Powell High School volleyball team Monday morning, when the Panthers hit the gym at 6 a.m. for the first of two practices.

The first week will focus on fitness and team bonding, the latter of which Kistler said will define her team’s identity.

“You can’t do it without everyone being a part of it,” Kistler said. “Most of it is how you present yourself on and off the court. Always arising to a challenge, never backing down.”

Kistler takes over a Panther volleyball program that’s no stranger to both success and challenges.

Powell is just one season removed from a Class 3A state title and finished third at state last season.

Rather than perceive the program’s recent success as a bar she must clear, Kistler thinks about what that success means for the maturity of the roster she’s inheriting.

“We do have kids with experience with a state championship,” Kistler said. “It gives them goosebumps, they want to get back to that point because it’s something special.”

Kistler met most of the returning players during a kids camp the first week of August.

While she wasn’t yet able to coach the players, Kistler said she learned the type of personalities she has on the team.

“It’s a new year, and a new team, and we’ve got to build,” Kistler said. “Those seniors are always shooting to fill those spots. The leadership, I couldn’t be more happy with. They’ve done everything I’ve asked, they’ve been very responsive.”

The senior leadership will help ease Kistler’s transition.

“It’s very comforting, they know what it takes and they’re excited about it,” she said.

Kistler expects an almost overwhelming influx from the freshmen class, which could produce as many as 30 volleyball players.

“It’s great, though, kids are interested in the program,” Kistler said. “It’s a very positive thing. When kids show interest in something you do, you can never frown upon it.”

Kistler is a special education teacher at Westside Elementary, and her love for kids extends from the classroom to the school.

“I always get the baby blues if I think about not coaching and not being around the kids,” Kistler said. “It was just something that’s been a passion of mine since I was growing up.”

Previous to her arrival to Powell, Kistler taught and coached at Tongue River High School.

Kistler spent one season as the head coach of the freshmen and junior varsity volleyball teams and two as an assistant of the varsity basketball team.

She said her past seasons — and the style with which she coached — won’t dictate how she coaches in Powell, aside from one constant.

“It’s a team effort, it’s team unity,” Kistler said.

Kistler is a graduate of Black Hills State University, where she was a four-year player on the women’s basketball team, and was named the 2010 Dakota Athletic Conference co-Freshman of the Year.

She considered playing volleyball at BHSU but her schedule limited her to basketball.

“Being a full-time student, and wanting to be a teacher, I just went with the one sport,” she said.

Kistler is a native of Banner and a 2009 graduate of Arvada-Clearmont High School, where she played basketball and volleyball.

She was a middle blocker and an All-State selection her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

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