CENTENNIAL HIGH SCHOOL – When we started this school year, many of the students were surprised to find that some of their old teachers were no longer teaching this year. As we transition from this year to the next, it is highly plausible that this feeling will be repeated, as more teachers change, with new ones replacing the old. One of the teachers leaving is Coach Bensend. After being the head coach for over 20 years, she has decided to step down, and Coach Pierce has taken her place.

“The nice thing about inheriting this program is it’s been a very well oiled machine for the 20 years that Centennial has existed,” says Coach Pierce. “It doesn’t need a complete overhaul, it just needs changes here and there, and then eventually, my own style will get infiltrated enough,” she adds.

Coach Pierce was already an assistant coach under Coach Bensend, and so, having been at the school for a while, she doesn’t think that the transition is going to be hard.

“One of the blessings is having already been here… I’ve been here for nine years…[and] I know the girls really well and I feel like I know the parents decently well too… it makes it easier and less daunting to take over,” she says.

And having coached for a while, Coach Pierce isn’t new to being a coach.

“[I’ve been] coaching volleyball since I was 18 because I started coaching camps and stuff right after graduating high school, so 18 till now, so that would be 21, almost 21 years,” she mentions.

She’s excited to get into the groove as head coach, and is optimistic about a great season next year.

“[They’re] very good players and very good kids, and so [I have] high hopes that we will make a playoff run for their senior year.”