On Friday, the Alpena High School Athletic Department announced the signing of new volleyball head coach, Kolby Andrews.

Kolby Andrews, the husband of Alpena varsity girls basketball coach Erin Andrews, brings with him eight years of varsity volleyball coaching experience at the high school level. Andrews spent last season coaching volleyball at Thunder Bay Junior High in Alpena and once the job was available, Andrews was ready to apply.

“A selection committee sat in on the interviews and it just seemed like he was the guy that shined during the interview process,” Alpena High School Athletic Director Tim Storch said. “We are excited about his goals about the program and his overall vision on volleyball here in Alpena.”

The Alpena varsity volleyball team was coached for much of the season by previous head coach Stacy McEwen.

McEwen resigned before the Wildcats began district play. Former Alpena head coach Melissa Doubek filled in during the postseason on an interim bases and the search began for a new head coach.

On Friday morning, the search was over and Andrews was name the head man.

“Alpena has a rich volleyball culture and I’m aware of the kids that we have here because I teach at the high school,” Andrews said. “There is always a lot of involvement and passion for volleyball here in Alpena and that’s exciting to see.”

Andrews spent eight years coaching high school volleyball at the varsity level in Texas.

He began coaching at Arp High School, which was a smaller school in Texas and enjoyed success there before he moved on to Chapel Hill High School which was a much bigger school in Texas.

Andrews enjoyed plenty of success during his time coaching at two schools in Texas and had his teams competing at a high level in the state tournaments and regularly ranked near the top of their respective conferences with Andrews at the helm.

Andrews takes over a Alpena volleyball team that will have its third coach in three seasons when they begin practicing throughout the Summer and begin play in the Fall.

The Wildcats have been competitive over the years and have seen plenty of talent take the court, but Alpena has had trouble getting over the hump and earning victories over some of the top teams in an always competitive Big North Conference.

Despite the lack of stability, Andrews is aware of the talent that he has in Alpena and is looking forward to beginning this new era of volleyball at Alpena High School.

“My goal is to bring a high level of competition, along with a fast paced attack on the court,” Andrews said. “I am going to utilize the talent that we have here in Alpena because I know there is plenty of it and I’m just looking forward to getting started.”