Abbey Ranson - 12
11/13/2018
The Kirksville volleyball team had a record-breaking season, with a 22-10-3 record. The 2018 Lady Tigers were the first team in program history to win districts, and Coach Quigley was there for all of it.
Justin Quigley started the Kirksville High School volleyball program in 2008. One of his goals as a coach was to “make this program a program where it wasn’t an automatic win for teams coming in (to Kirksville).” He felt that this year’s team met this goal and while they didn’t go undefeated at home as they had hoped, losing just one home game, they put up a good fight for every game.
“As the season got going, I knew that it was time for me to step away and enjoy things from the stands as Dad,” said Quigley. Junior right-side hitter Bailey Quigley is Coach Quigley’s daughter. For her senior season, he thought that she needed him to be a dad more than she needed him to be a coach. This time will also give Quigley more time to spend with his son, Jordan (4). Having this time to tend to his children was the biggest factor in his decision to end his coaching career.
Quigley has decided that the 2018 season will be the end of his coaching career. He had thought about not coaching this year at the end of the last season, but he realized that the 2017 team was accomplishing what he wanted to get done. Knowing that the upcoming roster was going to be filled with a great group of hardworking, competitive girls, he stayed for one last season. After the record-breaking season, Quigley felt that “it would be a good time to step away” and “somebody could come in and want the job and could really take off with this group of girls.”
Justin Quigley hasn’t always been Kirksville’s volleyball coach. From 2014-2015, Marlene Talbert stepped into the head coach position as Quigley stepped down. He came back into the high school volleyball program so that he could leave “the way I [he] wanted to leave.”
It wasn’t an easy decision. Quigley says he will especially miss the period of time before games start. “That’s all just me and the girls. That’s not anybody from the outside, that’s not any opponent. That’s just us getting ready for the season.”
Coach Quigley has definitely made his mark on Kirksville Volleyball, and the banner in the Primary Gym stating the 2018 volleyball team became district champs will always show that.