Campbell County High School Principal Adam Ritter told the returning players of the Camel volleyball team he understood this process of announcing a new coach may have taken longer than some people may have wanted.
But the administration had a good reason for it. Ritter and Campbell County Director of Athletics Steve Hensley introduced Jessica Ginter as the new head coach of the program in the student media center Wednesday afternoon.
“It really just came because I wanted to make sure we have the right person for you all,” Ritter said. “I hope you know the school and me well enough by now to know that we’re not going to just hire somebody to say we’ve hired somebody. We’re going to find the best person to meet the needs of our students, our school, what we intend to do and who we are as a school. I really believe we have found that person. We have been very, very excited with her, her ideas, qualifications, just her demeanor that she has.”
The 25-year-old is a 2015 Highlands alum. Ginter played for Whitney Mulroney her first three years in high school, helping Highlands to a 36th District Tournament championship in 2012. Katelyn Sallee took over the program her senior season in 2014. She played outside hitter and defensive specialist at Highlands.
Ginter played outside hitter at Eastern Kentucky University for one year. A concussion cut her career short. However, she came back to finish up her undergraduate degree at Northern Kentucky University and joined Sallee’s staff in 2018 and 2019.
“I’m thrilled to see Jess stepping into this new position,” Sallee said. “She has worked extremely hard and has a lot of natural ability as a coach. I’m excited to see her passion for the game and her heart for young people shine through this new role. She is equipped and ready to build a program and lead the Camels.”
Ginter took some time off to earn her Master’s Degree. But she came back to the Highlands sideline in 2021. She was a freshman and junior varsity coach in those three seasons.
“I’ve had a great history of coaches. They’ve taught me a lot about the importance of little details, doing the small things because those add up to the large things,” Ginter said. “I think it’s really important to focus on your character as a person because you’re more than just a volleyball player. You’re more than just a student-athlete. You’re also a daughter, a sister, a friend and I think it would be awesome to kind of shape those characters that you play every day and translate that on and off the court. It’s one thing to teach volleyball. It’s another to make you a good person.”
The pursuit of the Campbell County job started with a recommendation from fellow Woodfill Elementary teacher Leah Fryman. Fryman spoke highly of Ritter and the program having played for the Camels in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ginter will join the Special Education department at Campbell County High in the fall.
“I was looking for a new opportunity. I am still new to teaching and I felt like I was looking for something different. Last year, I worked with middle schoolers,” Ginter said. “This year, it was elementary and so I thought working with high schoolers would be a great opportunity. This kind of fell into my lap. It was worth the conversation and the interview. Turns out, it is going to be a great opportunity.”
The Camels finished 16-16 last year under Cara Hunt. Campbell County won the 37th District Tournament and finished 10th Region runner-up to Montgomery County. Campbell County does graduate two seniors from that squad in outside/right side hitter Rylee McKinney and outside hitter/defensive specialist Ashley Messmer. McKinney led the Camels with 314 digs, 56 aces and 246 kills.
Senior defensive specialist Ashlyn Niemeier is one of six players that saw action in every match to return. She had 129 digs and finished second on the team with 55 aces. The other returning senior is outside/right side hitter Bailey Beiting.
“I’m super excited. I’m hoping for a great season and I think that we’re going to have success this year,” Niemeier said. “I feel that just getting (issues that come up) out of the way quick is what we need to do honestly.”
Junior setter/right side hitter Ava Crowl returns after leading the Camels with 678 assists. Junior middle blocker Emma Manser had a team-high 60 blocks to go with 232 kills. Junior middle blocker Lexi Scharold, sophomore setter/outside hitter Lucy Trapp and junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Ella Thorwarth are the other three to see action in every match. Sophomore defensive specialist A lon McIntyre and freshman setter/opposite hitter Hope Hamilton also made key contributions last year.
Ginter plans to do some activities with the team similar to what she saw at Highlands under Sallee. She’s seen her fair share of different personalities over the years.
“I’ve had good experiences and bad where the team chemistry was there and sometimes, it wasn’t so I think our biggest focus is this year is to have a good team cohesiveness, a good time together learning to trust each other on and off the court – all the things that you have to learn in order to be a good member of society, to function in the classroom and have a job in the future,” Ginter said. “Good team chemistry can lead to a good season.”
Ginter has no idea what the team will run offensively or defensively. But she will get a good feel for the girls in open gyms. She will work on hiring assistants shortly.
“I feel that having no previous knowledge of their past season will give me an opportunity to see everybody with fresh eyes,” Ginter said. “Everybody is coming off of a club season so I think they’ll still be sharp, steady and ready to go.”
The biggest thing Ginter wants to establish at Campbell County is continuity. Ginter will be the third head coach in three seasons this fall.
“I would love to get to know the girls, their strengths and form the team around that. The bones have to be good,” Ginter said. “You get to know the setter, who our main defensive players will be and the hitters that we can rely on that we can use as an outlet to put the ball away. I think time will tell as they grow as the season goes on. My plan is to stay here, teach, coach and hopefully establish a good culture.”
Highlands won three of its five consecutive 36th District titles during Ginter’s time on staff there. Highlands won a 9th Region Quarterfinal game against Dixie Heights at Boone County in 2019. That plus the 2017 region quarterfinal win against the Colonels are the only two Highlands region tournament wins since the current format came out in 2012. But Highlands ran into 9th Region power Notre Dame in the semifinals both times.
St. Henry won state last year and Notre Dame won it the year before. But Campbell County does not have to go through what Sallee called “The Wall” in those two to earn the right to go to state in the 10th Region.
“That will be a new experience – all the travel – because I’m so used to everything being so close within the 9th Region,” Ginter said. “But with the new opportunity, I’m excited to face teams that I’ve not faced before. I think that will present a new challenge for me as a coach. For these girls that have seen them before, maybe they’ll be able to key me in on some things that they’ve experienced and that they know that I can count on to watch for as we play those different teams throughout the year.”
Campbell County has been a hidden gem to some extent in volleyball over the years. The Camels won the 10th Region in 2019 and 2018. The 2018 team drove all the way to the state semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Assumption.
The Camels have driven to the state semifinals three times in school history. Campbell County also lost in that round in 1980 and 1998. The Camels lost to Assumption in 1998 and Our Lady of Providence (former all-girls school in Newport before joining Newport Catholic in 1982 to form NewCath) in 1980.
The first practice is July 15. The first game on the schedule is Aug. 30 at Cooper at 7:30 p.m.
