A spin aboard a carnival merry-go-round can be fun, but some may find the sensation a bit dizzying. That’s how local prep volleyball fans may feel this year after an offseason that saw head coaching changes at three of the four Edmonds School District high schools, including one coach leaving his post and moving to their big rival while another coach stepping down from her job just to return to her cross-district alma mater in an assistant coaching role.

So jump on board the 2024 coaching carousel and let’s go for a ride.

Edmonds-Woodway Warriors

Last year, in just his second season at the helm of the Meadowdale Mavericks’ volleyball program, Bart Foley led the Mavs to a berth in the WIAA 3A State Volleyball Tournament. This year, Foley will take over the reins at Edmonds-Woodway.

Foley had resigned from his post at Meadowdale last spring in anticipation of traveling to southern California multiple times this fall to watch his youngest daughter play Division 1 collegiate volleyball. But when Stella, a 2024 graduate of Shorewood High School and the youngest of the four Foley siblings, decided to step away from the sport, dad needed to reassess his short-term future plans.

“OK, what am I going to do then?” is what Foley remembers saying to himself when he learned there would be no college volleyball to watch in California.

“I just ultimately decided that I would be interested to continue to coach,” Foley explained. “And it was coincidentally at about that time that Tyler (Geving), the AD (E-W Athletic Director) here, began calling me, sort of recruiting me. And he’s a pretty persuasive guy.”

Having already closed the chapter on his coaching days at Meadowdale, Foley accepted the E-W offer and will now don the green and purple of the Warriors this year.

“There was a criteria that I had about the components that need to be in place that would support building a championship-caliber program,” Foley said about process of deciding whether to accept the E-W head coach position. “And I was convinced that Edmonds-Woodway had them.”

While now a Warrior, Foley does speak fondly of his two years leading the Mavericks’ volleyball program. “I loved my time at Meadowdale; great people there, great support, great kids. It was really hard to leave,” he said.

After Foley’s departure from Meadowdale, the Mavs’ head coach post was quickly filled when school and athletic department administrators chose one of Foley’s 2023 assistant coaches to fill the role.

“I’m grateful that my JV coach, Emily Carroll, has taken on that role,” Foley said. “I think it’s great that she got the job; it’s the right decision that she got the job and she’ll do great.”

Meadowdale Mavericks

While the Mavericks lost their head coach from the past two seasons to Edmonds-Woodway, the elevation of Emily Carroll to the program’s top position seemed a natural choice. Carroll, a 2018 Meadowdale graduate, not only played volleyball for the Mavs but remembers being in the Stable (the school’s nickname for its gymnasium) well before even being a student there.

“This is where I grew up; I grew up in the Stable,” Carroll noted. “I have older brothers (who attended Meadowdale), so I’ve been in here since I was little.”

Then as a student at Meadowdale and while playing for the Mavs, Carroll had thoughts about what it would be like to lead the volleyball program there.

“I honestly have always said since I was in high school that head coach at Meadowdale would be my dream job,” Carroll admitted. “I didn’t necessarily think it would come this quickly. But I have three years of JV (coaching) under my belt. I’ve coached under two really great varsity coaches (Foley in 2022 and 2023; Megan Rainey in 2021) that have helped me a lot. So yeah, I’m feeling ready; I’m feeling confident. I’m excited. This is my home.”

The resignation of Foley caught Carroll by surprise earlier this year, but the two remain close — easily done when the two schools where they coach are less than four miles apart.

“Bart and I have a great relationship,” Carroll said. “He was so helpful to me over the past two years. I loved coaching under him.”

With Carroll at the helm, Meadowdale volleyball will have a different look, but the team wants to build upon the success they had last year when they earned a berth to the state tourney in Yakima.

“There may have been some crazy shifts and I think a lot of people in the (volleyball) community were a little shocked,” Carroll said. “But it’s not deterring us.”

“My girls want to go to state again this year, so that’s the goal,” Carroll said.

Lynnwood Royals

The Lynnwood Royals are coming off their most successful volleyball season in school history, going 23-1 (their only loss to 3A state champion Mead) and finishing third in the 3A state volleyball tournament. And while many of the members of that record-setting third-in-state squad last year have graduated, one key returnee is head coach Annalise Mudaliar.

But Mudaliar has a new assistant coach joining her for this season’s ride — last year’s Mountlake Terrace Hawks’ head coach Sabrina Dejesus.

Dejesus has been a brass ring that Mudaliar has been trying to snatch for her coaching crew for some time now.

“I have told her for years that I would love to have her come and coach with me here,” Mudaliar said of Dejesus. “There are some players that you see that are really great players; there’s other players that are great players but also have that great coaching (instinct). Sabrina’s one that as a player, when I saw her, I knew she was going to be a great coach one day.”

Dejesus, a 2017 graduate of Lynnwood, played on Mudaliar-led Royals’ teams throughout her high school career; the two have been close since. Coaching together had been discussed a few times, but the timing never worked out. Then the head coaching position opened up at Mountlake Terrace last year and, instead of coaching together, the two became rivals as Dejesus got the Hawks’ job, thanks in part to a strong recommendation from Mudaliar.

Dejesus’ tenure at Terrace lasted just one season as the pull to return to Lynnwood was just too strong.

“The idea of being here (at Lynnwood) was always the ending,” Dejesus said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t love the girls at Mountlake Terrace or the program,” she said, adding that resigning from the post there was a very difficult decision.

“I think that I was missing something last year,” Dejesus continued. “I don’t know if it was just being in this gym (at Lynnwood) or having Annalise by my side. That is a big thing; we are close and she helps a lot.”

Mudaliar said that having Dejesus on board at Lynnwood gives her confidence that the Royals’ volleyball program will be strong for many seasons to come. Mudaliar has hinted for years that she will retire from the coaching ranks sometime soon — and very possibly at the end of this year — as the 2001 Lynnwood grad is now in her 12th season serving as the Royals’ head coach.

“When I do leave, (Lynnwood volleyball) is going to be in good hands,” Mudaliar said.

While not promising that Dejesus will automatically assume the head coaching role at Lynnwood if she does retire this year, Mudaliar was clear that she will be closely mentoring Dejesus throughout the 2024 season.

“With Sabrina, she has head coaching experience already. And just knowing her ability, yeah, it’s intentional to just be able to work together,” Mudaliar said.

For Dejesus, the arrangement with Mudaliar couldn’t be better. “I love the fact that I’m here; I love the fact that she’s including me in everything,” she said.

Mountlake Terrace Hawks

After Dejesus’ exit from Mountlake Terrace, school administrators were tasked with hiring someone new to lead Hawk volleyball; they found the answer with an alum.

Alyx Packard, a 2008 Terrace graduate, returns to her old stomping grounds for a spin at leading the Hawks this season. Previously, she served as an assistant coach at Woodinville last year and five seasons as head coach at Juanita previously.

“I always thought it would be cool to come back and put my stamp on the program,” Packard said of coming back to Mountlake Terrace. “My alma mater; how exciting would that be.”

Packard will be the Hawks’ fifth head coach over the past eight years, and she ishoping to bring some stability to a volleyball program that has struggled with consistency as of late. 

While cohesiveness over time will be a Packard’s goal, she also wants to create a culture of positivity in the Terrace volleyball program.

“I try to be a very positive, encouraging coach,” Packard said. “It’s hard being a teenage girl — a teenager in general. So I want the volleyball court to be their happy place. I’m going to push them to their fullest potential, but in a positive way.”

As for on-the-court results, Packard sees possibilities with this year’s Hawks squad despite the program’s recent history — Terrace has a record of 21-59 since the 2018 season (no games were played in 2020 due to the pandemic).

“I 100% believe that they can do whatever they set their minds to,” Packard said of this year’s team. “Watch out for Hawk volleyball; we’re going to be awesome,” she added.

The 2024 season gets underway for local prep teams on Monday, Sept. 9, when Edmonds-Woodway hosts Woodinville, Meadowdale welcomes Arlington to the Stable and Lynnwood travels to Snohomish to face the Panthers. Mountlake Terrace opens their year on Tuesday, Sept. 10, with a road game at Mariner.

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski