Following varsity volleyball coach Patrick Dudash’s announcement that he would not be returning to the sidelines for the 2017-2018 school year, CESJDS set out to find a replacement before the volleyball season started in August.

Given the time crunch, Athletic Director Mike Riley started the search process for the new volleyball coach right away. For Riley, the first step was putting out advertisements for a varsity volleyball coach for JDS. Riley  said he was looking for someone who fits with the “JDS philosophy of athletics.”

“Basically what we are looking for is someone who is an excellent teacher of the game, has a large knowledge of the game, and somebody that can work within the policies and procedures of JDS,” Riley said.

Riley looked for someone who had been a head varsity volleyball coach before or had sufficient experience coaching volleyball that they would be qualified to coach at the varsity level.

Riley selected Tiffany Grimes to fill the position. Grimes was a long-time volleyball player and coach at Poolesville High School in Poolesville, Md. Since Riley used to be the athletic director at Poolesville, he had already known Grimes.

Grimes graduated from Poolesville in 2003, and volunteered as a coach whenever she could when she was in college. After she graduated college, she returned to Poolesville High School and started coaching. She coached the girls junior varsity volleyball team and, later, the boys varsity volleyball team. Grimes took a brief hiatus after her two children were born, but then decided to return to coaching.

The first week as a coach at JDS was very different to what Grimes was used to. When Grimes coached at Poolesville, there were shorter tryouts and a longer pre-season.

“Tryouts are a lot shorter at the public schools, so I have a lot more time with my team to get in a rhythm … and start working on game strategy,” Grimes said.

At JDS, varsity tryouts began on Aug. 22, the week before school started, which left very little practice time before the first game. Even with reduced practice, the Lions beat the McLean Mustangs in straight sets on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

Given the time constraint, senior captain Sophie Handloff felt that Grimes had prepared the team as best as she possibly could. Additionally, Handloff felt that the transition from Dudash to Grimes went relatively smoothly, although the team frequently reminisces over things Dudash used to do and say.

While the team misses Dudash, Handloff feels that Grimes is very knowledgeable about the sport and is able to help everyone improve their game.

“She is really good at giving us constructive feedback, and at the same time encouraging us,” Handloff said.