After 11 seasons as the head volleyball coach at Emporia High, Kendra Bloomquist has stepped down, citing personal and family commitments.
Bloomquist told her team on Tuesday that she would not be returning next year, and the search for a new head volleyball coach has already begun.
“I’ve been playing volleyball since I was 12,” said Bloomquist, 36. “I’ve been involved as a coach or a player every year since then. For 24 years, volleyball has been a part of my life, and yeah, this was a hard decision.”
Bloomquist, a letterwinner at Emporia State from 1991-92 and a third-team American Volleyball Coaches Association All American in 1991, is coming off her best season as Emporia’s coach, as she guided the Lady Spartans to a 27-16 record and a berth in the Class 5A State tournament — the first State appearance for the school since 1997. She also was named the Centennial League Coach of the Year.
“It was tough telling my team,” Bloomquist said. “We are coming off a great season. We had a lot of success and a lot of fun. To look into their eyes ... they were a little disappointed, but they understood as well.”
Bloomquist said she believed she was leaving the EHS program on solid footing, having started a variety of summer camps and instructional programs designed to help younger players become more accustomed to volleyball and achieve a better understanding of the sport by the time they enter high school.
“It’s not a finished product, but the program is going in the right direction, I think,” she said. “We had to get those programs for the younger players going in order to reap the benefits if Emporia wanted to become a successful volleyball program.”
Emporia loses five seniors off this year’s squad but returns several key players that contributed to the Lady Spartans’ success this fall, including setter Rachelle VanGundy, hitter Taylor Hollond and middle blocker Hilary Heinrichs.
“We’re trying to look for a quality person,” Bloomquist said. “It’s important to me that we find the right coach, because these girls are important to me, and this program is important to me.”