PARKERSBURG – Wood County Christian and Ohio Valley University graduate Kayla Ward has been hired as the next head volleyball coach at Parkersburg Catholic.

Ward, who works for the IRS in human resources and is replacing Michelle Wiltse, most recently served as an assistant and junior varsity coach at Williamstown.

“We’re going to do that after Christmas break and try to get the kids excited,” replied Ward when asked if she had a chance to meet with the team yet. “Just try to get them excited and get other kids excited about going.

“My goal this year is definitely just to create some ways for Catholic volleyball and hopefully other people will want to join the program.”

A 2006 graduate at Wood County Christian, Ward was recruited to play volleyball at OVU for head coach Paul Jacoby where she earned her degree in elementary education and special education in 2010.

“I did not,” admitted Ward when asked if she played volleyball for the Fighting Scots. “I had a baby instead.”

During her time as a Wildcat, Ward competed in volleyball, basketball and track.

Along with serving as an assistant girls basketball coach at Belpre, Ward coached middle school track for three years and was an assistant for two years for cross country.

Ward, who also was an assistant track coach at Williamstown Middle School and an assistant cross country at the high school, led the WMS volleyball team to three state Wood County championships.

“I definitely jumped at the chance,” Ward said. “They had a need and I got asked if I was interested and I jumped on it.”

Parkersburg Catholic is in its final year as a member of the Little Kanawha Conference as they are set to be members of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

“I do know we’ll have more regional opponents that we’ll see,” Ward added. “We’ll still play some of the LKC rivalries, but still have those regional opponents as well.”

Ward won’t be in the building at PCHS, which she admitted “definitely helped” in the past.

“That’s a little bit of a challenge now. I was able to sub during the government shutdown,” she added. “We’re going to have some summer stuff and hopefully we can get some interest that way and get the conditioning started in the spring, summer and start rolling.

“I’m excited for the opportunity. Definitely a little nervous. My goal is to have fun, but I want them to be competitive. Ultimately my goal is to build a championship program. That’s the ultimate goal. We’re going to work hard, compete and have fun at the same time.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com