Paul named Laurel Hill volleyball coach

LAUREL HILL – Kent Zessin was only supposed to coach the Laurel Hill volleyball for one year.

That single year turned out to be an 11-year run before Zessin decided it was time to walk away from volleyball so he can concentrate on his first love, coaching boys basketball.

Zessin’s exit from volleyball opened the door for one of his former players, Fresca Sedivy, a 2004 Laurel Hill grad, who is now Fresca Paul, to take over the program.

Paul admitted to some nervousness as she takes on her first job as a head coach at the high school level.

“Actually it’s extremely scary because all of these girls are looking to me to help them win some games this year and to teach them,” she said. “It’s been a while since I was in volleyball, so we are all going to have a nice little learning experience together this year.”

Zessin, who is the Laurel Hill athletic director, as well as head boys basketball coach, is glad to have Paul on board.

“We were fortunate enough to find an alum like Fresca Paul who came up through the program and knows the desire and love and tradition here at Laurel Hill as far as winning and what it takes,” he said. “We are proud to have her here and we really look forward to working with her. I’m sure being one of my old players she understands the work ethic it takes to be successful.

“She is aware of the kind of work it is going to take to accomplish the goals. She knows how to set goals and have her team set goals so I think she will come in and she will pick up on it pretty quick.”

Zessin pointed out that Paul also can serve as a role model for the girls on the team, who sometimes feel more comfortable talking with a female coach about problems they might be facing on or off the court.

Paul said she is close enough in age to the players where she can still “remember what they are going through with the worries of tryouts, the pressure of games, the pressure of coming to practices and doing their best,” Paul said. “I feel like it’s a pretty good little gap, but at the same time, close enough that I can relate to them a little bit.”

Laurel Hill was in danger of not fielding a volleyball team this year if Paul hadn’t stepped in as coach.

To say she hit the ground running was an understatement. Her first week on the job was spent holding tryouts. This past week has been spent getting into a practice routine as the Hoboes prepare for their season opener on Sept. 7.

Paul is glad that Zessin has been available as a sounding board throughout the process as she gets up to speed on the changes in the game since she last played.

Paul is hoping the Hoboes will be competitive this year and can win at least half of their matches.

“There are a lot of girls that have been playing for a while and you can tell,” she said. “And there is a lot of new talent coming out.

“There’s lots of room for improvement. It’s mostly just a lot of young talent and I think we have a lot of good girls to work with up here.”

The main thing is Paul wants her players to enjoy playing the game.

 “Obviously I hope for us to win as many as we possibly can,” Paul said. “We are shooting for about half and half right now, looking at the competition.

“They were going so far thinking they weren’t going to have a team, so hopefully they will have a good time this year.”

As Zessin steps aside from volleyball, he said he has enjoyed his run.

“It’s been a great experience for me as far as doing a sport I really wasn’t familiar with,” he said. “It kind of grew on me. I learned so much from the local coaches like (former Baker coach) Kathy Combest and some of the other real good coaches around here.

“I started to pick it up and I loved it, but my number one love was always coaching basketball, and that’s something I needed to get back to with my junior high boys. I saw an opportunity to make that adjustment and I did so.”