Panthers welcome new head varsity VB coach
ANAHUAC — The 2024 volleyball season is upon us, and the Lady Panthers will look to leadership from a new head coach during the upcoming campaign.
Head Coach Kristin Hart will head the Lady Panther volleyball program in her fifth season coaching at Anahuac ISD.
Hart says she is excited about the season and the players she will have on her team.
“My goal for these special ladies is to win district. But secondary to that is to finish in the top two and get past the first round of playoffs. These girls have my heart. They are talented and athletic. But most of all, they have special personalities and play well together,” says Coach Hart.
Six seniors are returning: Cyann Cook, Abby Foster, Meg Kreuzer, Gabby Palacios, Ashton Rose and Maylee Willcox.
“I want to play a faster tempo offense and keep the opposing defense guessing,” explains Hart.
“This is the same team I had my first year of coaching at Anahuac Middle School for 8th grade. One of my fondest memories is a game we played where we were down 8-23, and we came back and won 27-25. That’s the kind of team we have this year, five years later. It’s a relationship of never quitting,” Hart responded when asked to recount her best memory from all her coaching years.
“My other best memory is the day Coach Neece asked me to be the varsity coach. I was really excited,” she chimed in.
A 2001 graduate of Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Hart accepted a full volleyball scholarship to Northwestern State University, a Division I school in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and then picked up a tennis scholarship at the same university.
She played three years at Club Texas in Houston for Debbie Sokol, former Rice coach and USA Olympian, and Ap Clark, TCU Coach.
To round out her education, Hart graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont. She also has an associate degree in drug and alcohol counseling from Lee College.
Kristin Hart is married to Trent, owner and operator of Anahuac Sports Live, the popular live sports feed that broadcasts Panther sports. They have two children: Tyler, an AHS senior and Kyla, an AHS junior.
Coach Hart says her slogan for the year is “ALL IN!”
“When you feel like quitting, think about why you started,” is Hart’s personal encouragement.