Jessie Wade knows what it takes to win championships in volleyball.
Wade was a part of four state volleyball championship teams in her four seasons playing for Siloam Springs from 2004 to 2007, and now the former star hopes to play a part in getting the Lady Panthers back to the top.
Wade, a 2008 SSHS graduate, was hired as head eighth-grade volleyball coach by the Siloam Springs School Board at its meeting on Thursday.
Longtime head volleyball coach Rose Cheek-Willis, who was also Wade's coach during her playing days, said the hire is a slam dunk for the Lady Panthers program.
"It's something I've wanted for a long time," Cheek-Willis said.
Wade served as a volunteer coach for Siloam Springs during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Wade's presence during the 2013 season, in particular, was extremely important for Siloam Springs as Cheek-Willis missed the year while battling cancer and assistant coach Joellen Wright served as head coach.
"She helped through a tough time," Cheek-Willis said. "She stepped right in, didn't take any pay. She did it for the love of the game."
At the time Wade was working on her degree, but Cheek-Willis and Wright expressed a desire to one day get Wade on staff.
"When I knew Jess was moving back to the area and getting into education, I knew she'd be the perfect fit for us," Cheek-Willis said. "Her skill and temperament and fight that she has is what we need. Plus she knows the program. She's been with our program for four years and she knows how we coach. It's an easy transition for her I think. She knows how we run practices, our coaching style. It's like having your daughter. We love her."
Wade's excited to get to coach in her hometown.
"I knew going into it that there was no other place I really wanted to be than Siloam," Wade said. "I'm really excited to make that a reality this year."
Wade was an all-state and all-conference selection during her junior and senior years at Siloam Springs. The Lady Panthers won state titles in all four of her years at Siloam Springs, starting a streak of six straight state championships.
That streak ended in 2010 with a loss in the finals, and the Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the quarterfinals each of the past five seasons.
Wade wants to see the program get back to where it was when she played.
"It's in your blood," she said. "That's what Siloam does and this is who we are. ... Winning is one of those things that once you get a taste for it, it never goes away."
She's looking forward to working with eighth-grade volleyball players and helping teach the game and fundamentals. She'll work closely with the district's other volleyball coaches: Cheek-Willis, Wright and ninth-grade head coach Kaily Greenleaf.
"Jessie will take that passion and run with it," Cheek-Willis said. "There's no doubt about it. She'll teach them fundamentals. We just feel very strongly that she'll have them going in the right direction. I think she will work well with Coach Greenleaf. I just think it's a win-win situation for us all the way around."
Wade played college volleyball for two years at Washburn University before a shoulder injury forced her to stop playing.
She finished her degree at the University of Arkansas. She will teach art at Siloam Springs Middle School and also coach a spring sport to be determined.
Wade is also getting married next weekend and will soon go by her new last name, Merrill.
Sports on 06/12/2016