Union welcomes a new head coach for its women’s volleyball team this semester.
Graydon “Tripp” Swisher has an extensive background in volleyball as coach and player.
In 2011, Swisher became an assistant coach for University of Memphis, coaching there for two years and leading the team through many successes, including improved conference statistics.
Despite his success at that university, Swisher said he felt called to Union.
“I wanted to be somewhere where I could have my faith be an intentional partof my job,” Swisher said.
Director of Athletics Tommy Sadler said he was impressed with one of Swisher’s responses during an interview.
Those who interviewed the job candidates mentioned that players on their team had already been recruited and chosen; therefore, those applying for the coaching position would not be familiar with anyone on the team.
Swisher answered that the process would be sort of like adoption; even though children a person adopts are not biological children, parents love them as if they are.
Sadler also mentioned of transition on the team in the past, saying that what Union was looking for in a coach was someone willing to “put down roots.”
“When you are transitioning coaches every year, it’s hard to build a program,” Sadler said.
The volleyball team kicked off its season with a tournament Sept. 6-7 in Springfield, Mo. The first home game will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 against Harding University in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium.
Lydia Wright, junior public relations major, is a setter for the team, and because this is her third year on the team, Swisher will be her third coach.
Wright said she is impressed with Swisher so far and has high hopes for the season.
When asked about him, “what keeps coming to mind is encouragement,” she said, adding that in a scrimmage held last week, she also was impressed by Swisher’s coaching techniques.
Wright also appreciates Swisher’s sense of humor and personality in general, Sadler said.
Sadler said he feels Swisher can bring stability back to the team by building relationships and helping players grow as a team that represents Union’s mission.
Swisher believes the Lord guided him to Union by opening some doors and closing others and said he wants to instill faith in his players and help them to put God first.
After a relationship with God comes academics, then sports, he said.
Swisher said his goal in strengthening the team this season involves trust. He wants players to be able to rely on each other both on and off the court, he said.
Swisher also said he wants the team to know that the effort each player puts into the game is far more essential than the game’s outcome.
He wants the team to focus on the processes in order to improve: how they are working together, how they practice together, and how they are competing.
Swisher mentioned his desire to see the team focus on strengthening its offense and serving techniques this season to be more competitive than ever before.
He also plans to “re-brand” the women’s volleyball team by making players more visible on campus and in the community. He said he wants Union to see that his team loves God and to be a reflection of that faith in everything team members do on campus.
Swisher said he has been involved in volleyball since he was in high school at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis, where he played sand volleyball.
He was introduced to indoor volleyball at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va., where he played on its men’s club team from 1994-1996. Swisher later played on an indoor men’s club volleyball team at the University of Memphis in 2002.
Shortly after graduating from Liberty in 2006, Swisher found himself coaching junior level girl’s club teams. He served as club coach and clinician for the Delta Force Volleyball Club in Memphis from 2004-2013.
He also worked on the coaching staff for Cordova High School from 2001-2007, and has been working as a “high performance” coach for U.S. volleyball for the past two years.
