Varsity Head Coach - Kristin Cooper

 Kristin is starting her 19th year as the head coach of the Lady Lava Bears.  She brings over 30 years of volleyball experience having started the sport at age 9 and played Division 1 college volleyball as an outside hitter and defensive specialist.  In addition to indoor volleyball, Kristin participated in the beach circuit throughout her entire playing career having been the youngest player to earn a rating on the beach.  After college Kristin returned to her alma mater, Mira Costa High School to start her coaching career alongside her mentors DaeLea Aldrich and Lisa Arce-Zimmerman.  During her five years at Mira Costa, Kristin coached numerous Division I volleyball players and assisted the varsity squad to 2 national and 4 state championships.  

Kristin graduated from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo with a Bachelors of Science degree in Kinesiology.  While substitute teaching she earned her teaching credential and M.A.T. from Chapman University.  Kristin is currently teaching the weights class and Sport Psychology at Bend Senior High School.  Outside of school Kristin enjoys spending time with her husband Kevin, also a teacher and head football coach at Bend H.S., and  son Kaden, daughter Kailyn and youngest son Klayton.

Coaching Accomplishments:

5A State Coach of the Year:  2016, 2017, 2025

IMC Coach of the Year: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

MVC Coach of the Year: 2021

IMC Championship: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

MVC Championship: 2020, 2021

State Tournament Appearances: 2012 (5th), 2013 (5th), 2014 (6th), 2015 (5th), 2016 State Champion, 2017 State Champion, 2021 (3rd- 6A), 2022 (2nd), 2023 (2nd), 2024 (5th), 2025 (2nd)

   Assistant Varsity Coach- Liz Hewitt

Liz has been involved with volleyball for the better part of 40 years as a player and a coach. She played college ball at Oregon College of Education (presently known as WOSC) and was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.

Liz was the varsity coach at Bend High for 28 years where her team earned 10 IMC championships, a 4th place state finish in 1982, a 5th place finish in 1994, and represented the IMC in consecutive state-playoffs from the early 1990's to 2001.

In addition to high school ball, Liz has been involved with several club programs in Central Oregon.  This is Liz's 16th year as an assistant at Bend and she is looking forward to a great season.

Coaching Accomplishmetns:

--10 IMC titles

--OSAA volleyball coach of the year (1994)

--Nominated for national volleyball coach of the year from Oregon

JV Head Coach- Michelle O'Connell

Michelle was born and raised in Idaho where she played four years of varsity volleyball at Skyview High School. Then went on to play collegiately at the College of Idaho in 2003-2007.  After college she coached for both Club Idaho and Idaho Crush volleyball.  She was the Head Coach at Vallivue High School from 2010-2015 earning five top four state championship finishes.  From 2016-2019, Michelle was the Head Coach at Ridgevue high school.  A former winner of the Idaho 5A Coach of the Year award, Michelle’s family includes two amazing little girls, Lucy and Berklee and her husband Sean works for Life Flight. Michelle is in her 5th year as the Head JV coach and is also a Health and PE teacher at Bend Senior HIgh School.

Assistant Varsity Coach Emily Kernen

Emily was born and raised in Portland, Oregon where she played varsity volleyball at David Douglas High School for 3 of her 4 years.  She played in the National Championship in 1998 with her club team NIKE NW Jrs. in Davis, CA.  After high school, Emily played at Concordia University in Portland where she earned All-American honors her Junior and Senior years and an 8th place finish in the National Tournament in 2000.  Emily started her coaching career coaching for various clubs and camps in the Portland Metropolitan area during college.  After graduating from CU, she continued her coaching career as the Graduate Assistant Coach at Chicago State University for two years, where the team became the most successful team in school history.  She also led her 17’s team for Club Celtic Force to Nationals in 2003.  Returning back to the Northwest, Emily coached for Jesuit High School as well as various clubs.  Getting back to her roots, she returned to her alma mater, David Douglas HS, to take over as the Head Varsity coach until starting a family.  She and her family moved to Central Oregon in 2016, and stepped back into coaching in 2021.  Emily also teaches Health/PE at BSH and enjoys spending time with her family outside of school and volleyball.  Emily is married to Travis Kernen they have two children, daughter Harper, and son Bode.

Assistant Varsity Coach Steve Schlick

Coach Steve has been a volunteer with the Lava Bears for the past four seasons. He brings with him over 30 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience, starting initially at Arizona State University, then on to the University of Notre Dame and finishing his career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He had nine entries into the NCAA Championships and was the second winningest coach in Cal Poly history, earning 135 career wins over his 9 seasons there. 

After volunteering here at Bend Senior High School, Steve travels back home with his wife Barb to Los Osos, and volunteers as an assistant coach for the Cal Poly beach volleyball team. 

Coach Steve is a 1979 graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned his master's degree in Non Profit Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame in 1994. 

We feel blessed to have Coach Steve's knowledge and experience on our coaching staff here at Bend High School. He shares his passion for the game with his players and inspires them daily to get 1% better. Fun fact, Steve coached head coach Kristin Cooper at Cal Poly from 1999-2002.