Coach gives credit to players for 400th win

by DALE SHEFFIELD

Enterprise reporter

When the Wellington High School volleyball team triumphed over Brooklyn on Tuesday, Sept. 16, head coach Marsha Coultrip celebrated an impressive feat -- her 400th career victory. This achievement places her on the list of Top 20 Career Wins as catalogued in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Volleyball State Record Book.

Coultrip insists the moment of glory is not about her. She said the real credit goes to the players, both those on the present team and those that have played in the past.

"I train them and give them technical advice, but the performance is up to them," she said.

OHSAA first recognized volleyball as a high school sport in 1975. Wellington had a team for about two years before Coultrip took over at the beginning of the 1979 school year. She and assistant coach Karen Conley put together a program that led the Wellington volleyball team to conference championships in 1986, 1987, and 1993 and to regionals in 2003.

Coultrip expects her players to be high achievers, not only in sports, but also in academics. In 2000, the Wellington volleyball team was named the smartest team in the state of Ohio with a 3.897 accumulated grade point average for the semester.

Conley left the assistant coach position after 19 years. Since then, many previous players have served as Coultrip's assistant, and she said the opportunity to work with them in this capacity is the highlight of her coaching career. She acknowledged that her former students have played a big part in where the volleyball program is today.

Now that Coultrip has reached this milestone, does she have any plans to retire? Probably not, she said.

"I've been so blessed here at Wellington," she said. "Even after 30 years, there are always new opportunities, new kids, new goals."

The Wellington volleyball team is 9 - 5 in the 22-match season, and a conference championship is still a possibility.