Regina Off To Strong Start Under First-Year Head Coach Jordyn Akers
By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – The first season for a new coach always comes with a learning curve.
By starting her head coaching career at her alma mater first-year Regina volleyball coach Jordyn Akers was able to stay ahead of that curve.
Akers began her first season as a head coach with a knowledge of the school, the volleyball program and and several opponents on the schedule.
More importantly Akers had previous knowledge of the players on her roster.
During her time as an assistant coach, first at City High and most recently at Solon, Akers coached a club team mostly made up of Regina students.
Five of the six seniors on the current Regina roster played for the Akers-coached club team as 12-year-olds.
That familiarity has played a critical role in making the transition to a new coach a seamless one for both Akers and the players.
“It was fun coming in knowing that those relationships were there,” Akers said. “It’s been good because a lot of my coaching mentality hasn’t changed it’s just progressed so they have been really good about knowing what I expect.”
Senior setter Emily Bonnett remembers plenty about Akers and her coaching style from that 12-yard old club team.
Mostly what Bonnett remembers about that club season under Akers is that the team won, a lot.
“We were awesome, we really were, we had a lot of success and we had a very good time,” Bonnett said. “We had a good team and we had great chemistry and she helped with that.”
The Regals are hoping that familiarity continues to add up to wins this season.
Regina (8-3) opened the season with five straight wins to jump into the Class 2A rankings at No. 15 and all three of its losses have come to teams ranked in the top seven in Class 3A.
The Regals point to their relationship with their first-year head coach as a reason for the early-season success.
“Knowing Jordyn is helpful because not only do I feel like she brings a lot to the table but I feel like I can go talk to her about anything I need to,” Regina senior Katrina Chambliss said. “I feel comfortable around her and I feel like the team is comfortable around her and that’s a good feeling.”
Akers has a long history with the Regina program.
The 2010 Regina graduate was an all-stater for the Regals before playing collegiately at Ellsworth and Mount Mercy and her mother Robin was the head coach at Regina from 2006 to 2009.
“Her mom coached here so it’s fun to see her come in and add her own elements to the program,” Bonnett said. “It’s definitely interesting and fun to see what she can bring to the table and see what she can do for our team.”
The Regals made steady progress in three seasons under previous head coach Kara Kimm.
Regina went from 16-15 in 2014 to 22-14 last season.
This year the Regals are hoping to take another step, a big step under its familiar first-year head coach.
“I definitely think this is our year,” Chambliss said. “Throughout the years we have steadily been climbing and I think with our determination and drive we are definitely going to be state contenders.”
Regina lost its top hitter from last season in departed senior Sarah Lehman but the front line was bolstered by a pair of transfers in juniors Alex Wiese and Jaedynn Evans.
The 6-foot-0 Wiese sat out last season after earning first-team all-conference honors as a freshman at Tipton.
A Central Michigan commit, Evans had more than 600 kills in two seasons at Mid-Prairie leading the Golden Hawks in kills each of the last two seasons.
Wiese leads Regina with 101 kills this season while Evans is second on the team with 60.
“We’ve got new tools this year with Jaedynn and Alex, we have some new pieces and we’ve been working hard in the offseason and I think that will help us going forward,” Regina senior Alexa Lehman said. “This year might be our big jump to go to state and prove to people that we can’t be overlooked. We are here and we are going to prove people wrong.”
Chambliss is third on the team with 28 kills while Bonnett has transferred well into the starting setter spot and leads the Regals with 178 assists.
“The bonding that has happened over the last couple of weeks has been really strong,” Akers said. “It’s been nice to see because you never know when you have some transfers and you have an entire new coaching staff you never know how it’s going to work and it’s been really strong the last couple of weeks.”