Highlands Hires Northern Kentucky Native to Take over Volleyball Program

The current players may not know Michelle Woods.

But she is a familiar name in the realms of Northern Kentucky high school volleyball. Highlands Director of Athletics Wes Caldwell said her experience and knowledge of the game stood out in the decision to make her the next head coach of the Highlands Bluebirds volleyball program.

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“She’s a great in-game coach,” Caldwell said. “She’s very good with the teaching mode that we’re going to need with the next couple years with the younger kids making that transition to the varsity level. We’re excited to have her on board and just looking forward to her interacting with the kids. We’re looking forward to a great season and a great off-season.”

Woods, who is a Learning Specialist at the University of Cincinnati, grew up in Northern Kentucky. She graduated from Newport Central Catholic in 2009 helping the Thoroughbreds to the first three of six consecutive region crowns in the old 10th Region alignment playing the libero role. NewCath drove to the state semifinals her senior year before losing to eventual state champion Louisville Mercy. Her senior year was the last year under long-time Head Coach Jenny Mertle.

Woods described how Mertle made the tough decision to bring Kaela Freppon, Alyx Schulte and her up to the varsity as freshmen in 2005. But it paid off.

“I’ve known her all my life,” Woods said of Mertle. “She approached it as it’s an overall experience. We had assistants that kind of dove into more aggressive things. She wanted to be successful. I know it was difficult for her. But she had to see the vision of the program. We had a heck of a run my senior year and that’s what Mertle was doing.”

Woods had been the head volleyball coach at Cincinnati McNicholas the last two seasons. The Rockets combined to finish 29-21 those two years winning consecutive Division III District Tournament championships. That is similar to winning region crowns in Kentucky. Division III is the second-smallest of four classes in Ohio.

“I wanted to get back to Kentucky honestly and be a little bit closer to home,” Woods said. “I needed a little bit of a change. Even though there are some similarities, there are differences between Kentucky and Ohio volleyball in the way things are. Northern Kentucky is kind of small. Once you grow up, you kind of know anybody and everybody in the volleyball community. Once I saw that open, I wanted to give it a shot because Highlands has a rich culture in sports and academics. I’m a big promoter of the student-athlete.”

Prior to taking over the program at McNicholas, Woods served as the junior varsity coach there. She also served as a varsity assistant at Summit Country Day and coached softball at Villa Madonna. She attended grade school at Villa Madonna when her Dad Michael was the Director of Athletics.

Woods played collegiately at Mount Saint Joseph helping the Lions to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament crowns and appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament as a sophomore and senior. She played Defensive Specialist there under Head Coach Jon Bennett and served as a captain. The Lions tied Transylvania University for the regular season crowns in 2012 and 2010 and finished in a five-way tie for the regular season crown in Woods’ junior year in 2011.

Woods finished her career with 1,271 career digs. That ranks eighth all-time in school history.

“I like to be very loud, enthusiastic and into the game. I will run through a wall for a ball to be honest. I still play with my friends. We play competitive,” Woods said. “That’s where I fell in love with the game all over again and started coaching because (Bennett) challenged me. I had to step back and say, ‘What is my role on this team?’ Then I kind of had to run with it. He kind of built that tough mindset for me and that hard work ethic. I like to have fun. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s all about the experience. We’re going to get the job done. We’re going to win and then we can have fun.”

Woods could not say enough about how the community has been supportive even 48 hours after the school named her head coach. Woods has already spoken with Mandy Gessner, who helped start the Little Birds volleyball program and the Highlands Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Aaron Letinski.

Woods listed a goal of making sure volleyball is enjoyable, not overwhelming in the Little Birds program. She has experience coaching middle schoolers and will run a pre-season clinic a week from Saturday. Woods also hopes to have the high school players show up at middle school practice and make them feel welcomed.

The size of the Highlands Fieldhouse impressed her. She had to run conditioning at previous schools and said it was tough finding time for 12 teams to work out in small weight rooms. She is glad the players will receive training that is specific to volleyball.

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“I can’t wait to take advantage of every single thing that is at Highlands,” Woods said. “Being new, I want to make sure I’m doing the right things. I have my coaching style and things like that. But I want to make sure I’m not stepping on any toes.”

Highlands graduates nine seniors from last year’s team that finished 28-8 including four-year starter CC Shick, who is committed to Hanover College (Indiana). But Woods experienced that at McNicholas. She noted every player is different.

“Obviously, the coaching style is going to be different with me coming. They’re kind of probably nervous. But I’m going to meet the girls and hopefully get in the weight room and in the gym to start getting them to feel comfortable around me,” Woods said. “That way they can feel more comfortable on the court. I’m going to challenge them. But I also have to realize that they are younger. But I think as long as they are excited and willing to put everything in, they’re going to perform how well the coaching staff wants.”

Highlands has won five consecutive 36th District Tournament championships under former Head Coach Katelyn Sallee. The Bluebirds beat Dixie Heights in the 9th Region Quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019 before losing to Notre Dame in the semifinals. Woods is meeting with the returning players on Friday and Sallee over the weekend.

Two juniors saw action in at least 31 games last year. They are setter Kenzi Vennefron and outside hitter Emma Daly. The Bluebirds sometimes put two setters on the court last year with Vennefron and Madison Opitz. Vennefron had 388 assists and 32 assists last year and Daly recorded 44 kills, 14 digs, five solo blocks and three assisted blocks.

“I think she has a very distinguished background with volleyball and I think it will grow our program in good ways. I’m just excited to get to work with her,” Daly said. “Our goal is to use what we’ve learned from those past players and apply it to these upcoming seasons with our new coach.”

Woods is well aware that the last two state champions have come from the 9th Region. St. Henry won it last year and Notre Dame won it in 2020. 

Ryle and Cooper have been on the heels of those two, but have not been able to break through in the region tournament. Ryle beat Notre Dame and St. Henry during the regular season last year before losing to Notre Dame in the region semifinals. That marked the first time in school history that Ryle had beaten Notre Dame. Dixie Height has also been in that group in recent years.

“I think the competitiveness in Northern Kentucky is there and I think it’s only going to get better. It starts in the off-season,” Woods said. “We’re hopefully going to get this ball rolling quick so that we are able to at least give ourselves an opportunity to compete with these teams and hopefully whether it’s regular season and hopefully in tournament. It’s not about who’s the tallest. Of course, that’s an advantage. We need to be in the best shape that we can be and make sure we’re approaching the season the right way. We have some time to do that.”

Woods will start to put together a staff in the next week or two. She said there has been lots of interest in the assistant and middle school positions.