Volleyball: Wink’s Hill, Crane’s Etheredge start new jobs in Basin

WINK This hasn’t been the easiest first week on the job for either Peggy Hill or Julie Etheredge.

Both are first-year varsity head coaches.

Both also have been burning the midnight oil while learning the ropes.

Etheredge’s first three matches as Crane’s head coach earlier this week all went to five games, so at least it didn’t take her long to figure out the capabilities of her players.

All Hill has had to do in her first few days as Wink’s head coach is direct a 16-team tournament — the 10th Annual Best in the West Classic, which began Friday and concludes today.

“Honestly I don’t think I’ve had very much sleep at all since I’ve been here,” Hill said. “My mind’s just been running, and I can’t settle down. A lot of this (tournament) was done ahead of time, of course, but I also wanted to make sure it all went through OK.”

Hill said Wink junior high coordinator Paula Kay Stewart had been an immense help with the tournament and in learning the ropes at her new job.

Wink is Hill’s first varsity head coaching job, and the position brings with it the pressure of being one of the best Class 1A volleyball programs in the state. Wink was a Region I-1A finalist last year and is a perennial regional tournament participant.

Hill’s experience came primarily as a junior high coach and coordinator in San Angelo, though she has been out of coaching for a little more than a decade while watching her three daughters play at Lake View High School. Eldest daughter Jennifer Hill played at Midland College and Texas A&M-Commerce, middle daughter Allison Hill plays at Tarleton State, and youngest daughter Haley Hill is a freshman at New Mexico Military.

But when Hill saw the Wink opening this summer and with all three daughters out of high school, it was an opportunity she didn’t want to pass up.

“This is a great gig — I couldn’t ask for more,” Hill said. “The kids are great, and they’re working hard. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re going to get there. I really believe we will.”

Like Hill, Etheredge also moved to the Permian Basin from San Angelo when she accepted the head coaching job at Crane.

Etheredge had served the last three years as an assistant coach on the San Angelo Central staff under Connie Bozarth, who previously had coached at Lake View and coached Hill’s two oldest daughters.

The experience under Bozarth, who is considered one of West Texas’ top volleyball coaches, served as an impetus for Etheredge to seek a head coaching job.

Like Hill at Wink, Etheredge is taking over a Crane program that has had a lot of success during the last decade. Now, Etheredge is intent on making her own mark.

“The kids have been real open to change, and that’s been the most important part,” Etheredge said. “I’m just very up front and very forward about what we’re trying to do, and they’ve bought into it.”

Both Wink and Crane advanced into the championship bracket for today’s action at the Best in the West Classic.