Those interested in the volleyball head coach position can apply on the school district website under employment.
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Laura Buck has led the Ladycat Volleyball program for the past decade becoming the winningest coach in program history.
For the past decade, Ladycat Volleyball has had a consistent presence leading the program.
A presence that won more games than any other volleyball head coach in PCHS’ history.
A presence that saw the program hoist its first 38th District title in 2012.
A presence that coached Brianna Couch who was recently chosen to join the 10th Region Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
That presence was Coach Laura Buck.
“I know I’ll miss it,” she said about stepping down while remarking that family obligations are increasing and taking more of her time.
Athletic Director Jordan Woodruff said that the program would miss Coach Buck and “She influenced many PC student athletes and did a great job running our volleyball program for the past decade.”
She credited taking after her mom for lasting a decade as head coach.
“That’s what she did. She committed to something and stayed to it,” said Buck, who lost her mother last year.
The Ladycats are coming off of a 15-20 season with a district runner-up finish to Harrison County and a 10th Region Tournament appearance. They fell to Bracken County in five sets.
They graduate four seniors and will have six juniors, a sophomore and four freshmen returning to the team that won 15 games.
The biggest highlight of her career was hanging the first Ladycat Volleyball championship.
They had played in a district that included Campbell County and Brossart, and when KHSAA realigned the districts, they moved into their present district of Harrison County, Robertson County and Nicholas County.
It was that first year of 2012 that they beat Harrison County in four sets in the first round, and then dispatched Robertson County in straight sets to claim the championship.
Her teams would have four more 38th District Runner-up finishes and a total of five regional appearances over eight years in the new district.
Her decade-long record is 114-162, which is the most victories of any PCHS volleyball coach.
When Buck took over the program, she provided a stability that the program was missing. Ladycat Volleyball was created as a Title IX companion to football when that program was started.
Five coaches led the program over its first six years of an existence with Stephanie Moore being the lone coach to last two seasons and tally a total of 14 victories. The two seven-win seasons were the single high in a season. It matched Tara Stroup’s seven wins as head coach in the program’s first year.
Buck’s first team surpassed that single season success her first year as she led the program to its first double-digit win total. The Ladycats went 11-20 that year.
Her second year would see them post the program’s first winning season going 15-13.
The 2011 season provided the foundation for a 20-win season and the district title in 2012.
“That district title, I do look back on. I miss all the the girls from throughout the years,” reminisced Buck who added that she would miss the bus rides and practice.
“The way to the match, you could hear a pin drop but on the way back, win or lose, they were singing,” she said. “To see a team of different girls and personalities bond as a team was special.”
As far as practices, the learning process always was something special to the coach.
“Even though we practiced hard, they would have fun, and then to see what they had been working in practice succeed in a game is one of the things you enjoy as a coach,” she added.
Pendleton County Schools has posted the position on their website under employment. The season for fall sports is scheduled to start on July 15, but Covid-19 has start dates, the way practices will be designed and the nature of contests up in the air.
All of the question marks makes a fan wonder which will be harder: Replacing the best in program’s history or doing it in the atmosphere of Covid-19.