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New head volleyball coaches are looking to bring some stability to East Union, Lathrop and Weston Ranch — three programs that have undergone constant change at the top over the past four years.
Two of those coaches have familiar names in the area.
Rich Posz takes over at East Union, where he is already the sophomore girls basketball coach. One of his daughters, Lexy, is a former standout Lady Lancer in basketball, while the younger Courtney has started her junior year at the school and will play setter in her first varsity season.
Chris Bauer is back to coaching volleyball after leaving a successful program at Ripon High in 2004 to take a teaching position at Weston Ranch, where he has since served as head varsity girls basketball coach.
At Lathrop, Stockton native Diana Kimbrough is coaching at the high school level for the first time, though she is no stranger to the sport as both competitor and instructor.
Posz started coaching volleyball for the St. Anthony’s Catholic Youth Organization squad and, for the past two years, ran a club team consisting of East Union lower level players.
“I’ve always had an interest in volleyball,” Posz said. “I’m from southwest Minnesota where all we had was football, basketball and baseball for the boys. My sister played college volleyball, and that had a part in getting me into it.”
Mike Morenzone brings experience to the coaching staff at the sophomore level. He led East Union to its second of two overall Sac-Joaquin Section championships in 1995. Morenzone also guided the Lancer softball team to a section title. He previously coached Ripon’s sophomore volleyball contingent.
Bauer has spearheaded benchmark achievements with the girls basketball team at Weston Ranch in recent years. Now, he aims to do the same in volleyball.
Over the past two years, the Cougars threatened to qualify for their first postseason berth but came up short each time.
Bauer last coached volleyball in 2004 for Weston Ranch’s sophomore team, but in 2003 he guided tradition-rich Ripon to the final four of the SJS Division IV playoffs. In his three years at Ripon, he went 1-19 in 2001, 22-11 in 2002 and 16-6 in 2003.
“It’s a nice change going from basketball full-time for eight years to something different. It’s refreshing and it’s been fun,” said Bauer, who was named varsity head volleyball coach the week before the school term started for Manteca Unified schools.
Kimbrough is excited to be venturing into new territory in her volleyball career. She began playing at age 10, when she received instruction from Nancy Liskevych, an All-American at Pacific. Her husband, Terry Liskevych, currently heads the Oregon State volleyball team and previously coached the U.S. national team from 1985-1996.
Kimbrough went on to play at Lincoln High continued to play collegiately at Hartnell College, Delta College and various competitive clubs in the Stockton area.
Her father, Dr. Glen Albaugh, a renowned sports psychologist, is a big influence in her life.
“That’s where the whole coaching thing comes from — it’s in the family,” Kimbrough said. “I’m a little nervous but very excited to be a part of this. Our first goal is to create a great team culture, and we want to show that in practice and our matches.”
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