Williams to helm All-Stars

Lady Mohawk volleyball coach Mellissa Williams talks with her senior squad during action last fall at PHS. Williams has been chosen to serve as an assistant for the East Volleyball All--Stars this summer by the Arkansas Activities Association. (Times file photo) [Click to enlarge]

Compared to recent history, the 2009 Lady Mohawk volleyball season has to be considered a disappointment. Making the switch to qualifying by way of the district tournament, a process that has since been abandoned, the Tribe failed to make the trip to Harrison for the state tourney for the first time in nine years. That, combined with a few late season letdowns both on and off the court, led to a season that longtime coach Melissa Williams probably wants to forget.

But, now comes a bright spot to the season she'd rather forget--as Williams has been selected as one of the assistant All Star Coaches for this summer's matches. The announcement was made official by the Arkansas Activities Association Tuesday morning, as Williams will assist the coach for the east team in the game in June.

Head coach for the east volleyball squad is Lisa Beasley of Marion. She will be assisted by Williams along with Kelly O'Rourke of Mount St. Mary and Vickie Gatewood of Nettleton.

Head coach for the west volleyball squad is Angie Baker of Huntsville. Coach Baker will be assisted by Brandy Chumley of Benton, Jessica Phelan of Fayetteville and Brent Reeves of Mansfield.

The 2010 All-Star Volleyball game will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, at Barnhill Arena on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

"It's really a cool honor," Williams said Saturday night at the Piggott-Rector basketball game at PHS. "I'll be spending a week with the All-Star teams in Fayetteville--it should be exciting and I'm really looking forward to it."

Williams, a former Lady Mohawk multi-sport star, has had great success with the Piggott volleyball program. The past four years the team has made it into the final four, or eight, in the state only to be eliminated by Lavaca. The performances of the Tribe have also made a name for the program statewide, as the squad continues to do well in a region loaded with talented teams. It's not by accident that most of the state champions in 3A have come from the Northeast region in the past few years.

Speaking of 3A-Northeast, there have been new conference alignments announced for 2010-12 for volleyball teams. The biggest change will be the absence of 2008 state champion Brookland Bearcats, who move up to 4A. They will be replaced by Bay in the conference line up.

The conference alignment for 3A-Northeast for the next two years will include--Piggott, Bay, Cedar Ridge, Crowley's Ridge Academy, Harrisburg, Hoxie, Ridgefield Christian and Walnut Ridge.