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Millard South hires veteran coach Kappas Joanne Kappas, one of the state's most successful high school volleyball coaches, will move on to her fourth Metro Conference school in the fall.Kappas, currently the head coach at Omaha Bryan, will take over that position at Millard South. The announcement was made Thursday by Patriots Athletic Director Nolan Beyer.“The opportunity presented itself, and I took it,'' the longtime coach said. “I'm always up for a challenge, and I'm looking at this as the next stage in my life.'' Kappas has been a head coach in the Metro for 28 years.She spent five years at Bellevue East, 19 at Bellevue West and the past four at Omaha Bryan. She has enjoyed success at every stop, most notably with the Thunderbirds. She guided Bellevue West to 19 straight state tournament appearances and 11 Class A titles.She took over at Bryan in 2006 and guided that school to its first state tourney appearance in 2008.The Bears won 24 matches that season and won 23 last fall, narrowly missing a second straight trip to the state tournament.“Coaching here at Bryan has been a wonderful, fulfilling experience,'' she said. “I really enjoyed my time here.'' Kappas is third on the all-time Nebraska volleyball coaching list with 774 wins. Only former Lincoln East coach Myron Oehlerking (791) and current Grand Island Central Catholic coach Sharon Zavala (782) have more. In addition to coaching the Bears volleyball team, she also is the school's dean of students. She will coach and teach biology at Millard South.“We are very excited for the future of Millard South volleyball and the opportunity for Coach Kappas to take over and build on the foundation that has been developed,'' Beyer said.Kappas will replace Erin Kasner, who has guided the Patriots the past four years.Millard South has never won a state title in the sport and has reached the state tournament just once since 1996, losing in the first round of the 2007 state tournament to Millard North.Kappas said she is excited about the chance to coach at Millard South, though she wasn't ready to make any predictions about the future. “It's impossible to say what's going to happen,'' she said. “Volleyball in Nebraska is highly competitive, so we'll just have to work hard and hope that leads to some success.''
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