PHS grad Pierce thriving in coaching role at Heidelberg
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PARKERSBURG -- Challenges always seem to present themselves to 2022 Parkersburg High School graduate Beyonce Pierce, but the former Big Red and ex-Washington & Jefferson Presidents volleyball player continues to go with the flow.
Following a junior campaign where the 5-foot-4 defensive specialist amassed 140 kills, Pierce missed her prep senior year due to injury.
Nonetheless, Pierce competed at W&J for four seasons at the Division III institution while earning a degree in psychology with a minor in forensic science.
Currently, the ex-Big Red is living in Tiffin, Ohio, and is pursuing her master’s in counseling at Heidelberg University, where she’s also a current coaching intern for the volleyball program of head man Jason Miller.
A week ago Friday, Pierce came back to the Mid-Ohio Valley when the Student Princes had an Ohio Athletic Conference dual with Marietta College that resulted in a 3-1 victory.
“Most of my family came. My dad, my mom and some aunts. That was nice to have them there,” said Pierce. “I know Camryn Yoho. She’s a sophomore there now.
“It was kind of full circle because I played against Marietta in college, so now that I’m coaching back in Ohio and visiting Marietta College it was just kind of a full circle moment. It was fun. We won. We’re ranked second right now in the OAC and we’re having a great season.”
Pierce, who said she considered both West Virginia University and Chatham University for her postgraduate work, was able to take advantage of a joint education agreement between W&J and Heidelberg.
“It’s the first year they’ve done the educational agreement,” Pierce said of Heidelberg’s Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) program. “I just got introduced about the clinical mental health counseling. I applied and I got in.”
That then led to an opportunity with the volleyball program.
“About a month and a half later I’m getting messages from the GA (Graduate Assistant) Kellyn Kennedy and then head coach Jason Miller,” Pierce said of the team needing some help after losing an assistant coach. “They didn’t really have a lot of time to keep searching and they heard about me so they reached out. I am a graduate assistant because I’m studying and I get a stipend. I also get free housing and things, but since there’s already a GA right now they have me listed as a coaching intern.
“Once she graduates after this year I’ll fill that GA role. I do everything the other GA does. I love it. The group of girls here are really nice and Jason is a great coach. I’ve learned so much from him. Kellyn, great friend. I think that was one of my biggest concerns was just like not meeting people. They’ve been welcoming and it’s an awesome experience. I kind of debated between where I wanted to go for grad school and this kind of financially made the best decision, and I’m glad I made that decision.”
Aside from helping out the Student Princes, the ex-Big Red stays busy by giving lessons and coaching at the Ohio Valley Volleyball Club. She also worked the Nike summer volleyball camp while at W&J.
“I just wanted to stay involved somehow so I started doing private lessons there and I coach like developmental teams there,” Pierce said of the OVVC. “That was nice. I now, moving forward here, Jason Miller actually owns his own volleyball club called Black Swamp. It’s literally a facility with three volleyball courts. Now that I’m here I also do private lessons here with girls ranging from like anywhere from 10 to obviously high schoolers and above.
“Mainly just private lessons and then this year I actually have been given an American team so I’m going to be coaching 16s club with my own team. It’s like another kind of side hustle I do that I really enjoy. It has taught me such a different perspective of the game. Obviously it’s a small town here so being able to meet new people and talking to people as well. Over the summer I moved here in July and Heidelberg runs high school camps so we did that for like three weeks all day, and it was a lot but also another good experience.”
After tearing her ACL in basketball, Pierce wasn’t sure if she would get an opportunity to compete in college.
“I knew I wanted to play college volleyball,” she said. “That was always a goal of mine and I missed my senior season. I had been talking to some schools and after my ACL I didn’t really talk to many schools, and then I got an email from Washington & Jefferson. I went there and I toured.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I had a conversation with my nana and she was like ‘you don’t want to ask yourself what ifs’ so I just kind of pulled the trigger and I was like ‘well, I’m going to go play volleyball at this small Division III program and if I don’t like it that’s OK, I’ll just transfer,’ but I ended up really enjoying it. I met a lot of great people who I’m still best friends with to this day.”
The master’s program is two years long, but Pierce said it might take her closer to two and a half with all of her volleyball responsibilities.
“I definitely like foresee myself wanting to stay involved with like camps in the area or lessons or things like that, or just coaching like a club team,” Pierce said after she finishes her schooling. “In my future I don’t really see myself just wanting to be like a head coach honestly. I would love to just continue to be involved with volleyball.
“Growing up in Parkersburg there was never really a gym that I could ever really practice at and if there was a gym the net was like not functional. Now that I’m in a position where I can help others and like aid others along their volleyball journey it feels nice to know that honestly. If I ever have a chance to open up my own club I wouldn’t mind that.”
One good thing Pierce doesn’t have to worry about is the dating scene since she’s been with longtime boyfriend Cyrus Traugh, who was bestowed the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award this past April, which honors a West Virginia University Mountaineer walk-on player for outstanding work ethic and attitude.
“We’ve been together since we were in high school, since I was a junior and he was a sophomore,” Pierce said of Traugh, who graduated at Parkersburg South. “We’ve been together for a really long time, but we made it work through Washington & Jefferson, Youngstown, now I’m here and he’s at West Virginia.
“I try to visit occasionally. I was there this past weekend at the football game and I made that work. I do a good job of balancing things. That’s just part of it all I guess.”
Although her competitive playing days are over, Pierce hopes to keep volleyball in her life in some form or fashion.
She also never really thought being a student-athlete and having a love for her favorite sport would lead to so many opportunities.
“Definitely not,” she said. “I have always loved volleyball and I feel like the first example of what it really introduced me to was sisterhood and just the bonding aspect of it. I kind of used that to make friendships and things like that. It took me to college where I met even more great people. I also think the aspect about it that’s the most important is learning the skills and the assets that come with it, just being gritty and like having endurance.
“I feel like just being able to see the good out of things and being part of that type of teamwork is another aspect you kind of don’t expect to experience, but I definitely did not think volleyball would open up as many doors as it has for me, but I’m extremely thankful for everything that I have been able to experience. I definitely think moving past this point I feel I’m with a great group of people and I’m ready to experience a different side of volleyball, just being even more motivated to get myself immersed in everything it has to offer.”
At least for the time being, Pierce knows what her future holds.
As far as down the line goes?
“I would like to work in forensics,” Pierce said. “I would love to like have my own private practice and kind of work on the law side of forensic psychology basically.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com