Published: August 16, 2007 11:53 pm            

Lewey comes out of retirement to coach Lady Saints volleyball

Life after retirement has been pretty good to Carol Lewey.

Since stepping down as Hanceville High’s girls basketball coach in 2003, Lewey has spent as much time as possible on the golf course with her husband Doug — who was also a retired high school teacher and coach.

But after Dafford Smith stepped down as St. Bernard’s head football coach this summer, Lewey’s husband decided he wanted to give coaching another try. And fortunately for Lewey, St. Bernard just happened to have a coaching position available for her as well.

Because Jarrod Oliver decided to not coach volleyball this year, St. Bernard needed someone to take over the program before the season started. And since Lewey had also served as a volleyball coach at Vinemont during her career, she just fit the bill perfectly.

“This summer, a mother of one of the girls here at St. Bernard came up and asked me if I would please coach her daughter’s team,” Lewey said. “It almost brought a tear to my eye. That’s when I made up my mind, I was going to give it a try.”

Even though Lewey is best known as the basketball coach that led Hanceville to five straight Cullman County championships and a Class 3A state title in 2001, the Hall of Fame coach has some history with volleyball, too. After graduating from Hillsboro High School in Nashville, Tenn., Lewey went on to play both basketball and volleyball at Tennessee Tech.

Lewey has also had success as a high school volleyball coach, leading Vinemont to the state tournament in 1994 and 1995.

While Lewey knows a thing or two about volleyball, she admits there are a few things in the game that have changed — such as the libero position.

“I talked to the girls, and they said they didn’t use the libero that much last year,” Lewey said. “So I’m not too worried about that stuff. One thing I do know is that defense is very important in volleyball, and I’ve already noticed that we’ve got some good athletes on our team.

“These girls are super. They’re a really super bunch of girls. I’m really excited about coaching them this year.”

When Lewey took the volleyball job at St. Bernard, the Hall of Fame coach made it clear that she wasn’t interested in taking over the girls basketball program — which came open after Michael Adkins left for Lawrence County High School in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

“Coaching volleyball is one thing, but basketball is tough,” Lewey said. “Basketball season is just too long. It’s too long for me. I’ll just stick with volleyball.”

St. Bernard plays host to J.B. Pennington and West Point in its season opener next Thursday.

        

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