Competition breeds success: How Adriana Leake is making volleyball at Bethel fun again
After over a decade of turmoil, the young coach is carving out a promising future for the Bethel volleyball program.
This past fall, the Bethel volleyball team eclipsed its first 20-win season in 12 years and clinched a first-round bye in the KCAC postseason tournament.
It was just head coach Adriana Leake’s second season leading her own program. But, despite her youth, she answered the bell — and any questions about the direction of a team that averaged under nine wins per season from 2017-2020. That’s because she entered the role prepared.
Leake started coaching when she was still in college, volunteering with her high school alma mater, where she would help with camps and clinics during the summer. During her senior year at fellow KCAC member Sterling College, one of the JV coaches left, so she stepped up to lead her team’s offseason workouts and training sessions.
“That was my first real coaching job,” Leake said about her senior year. She then spent some time coaching club and high school teams where she learned “quite a bit,” before taking a part-time assistant gig at another KCAC school: Friends University in Wichita.
“The transition [to Friends] was really easy for me because I was really hungry to keep learning,” Leake said. “I didn't make very much money at any coaching job I had, but I knew I wanted to be a head coach one day. My experiences at all of my previous coaching jobs helped develop things I do and don't do now that I’m a college head coach.”
Since taking over at Bethel, Leake’s main goal for the program is to create a culture and an atmosphere where high school competitors would feel at home. “Culture was my biggest focus because I knew it would drive results,” she said. With Athletic Director Tony Hoops, the two coordinated expectations for the program together upon Leake’s hiring — which consisted of raising the level of play and bringing in strong recruits. But that wasn’t enough for the Texas native.
“As a competitive person, I wanted wins,” Leake said.
Leake noted that her first recruiting class was a bit of a challenge because volleyball players commit early. And having been hired in May of 2021, she was already behind but knew she wanted to roll with jockeying for high schoolers because the cultural buy-in would separate them from the rest. Then, she’d fill in whatever holes remained.
In 2021, the team went 7-18.
Ahead of the 2022 season, Leake was able to get her first full recruiting cycle in North Newton under her belt. The team added freshmen who contributed right away. It also welcomed a last-minute transfer, Kylah Carter, who Leake says “couldn't have been a more perfect fit.”
Carter is just one of three transfers in the whole program. After departing NCAA Division II Missouri Southern State University, she said Leake contacted her at the perfect time: “I felt something genuine in our conversations and that she truly valued me as a player.”
Soon after, Carter committed. She experienced a lot of new things upon arriving at Bethel but chose to embrace it all because the culture of Leake’s team made it easier. “Fitting into the culture seemed natural as my teammates and coaches were so welcoming,” the junior from Houston, Tex. said. “I'm just happy to be a part of the history that's in the making for this program.”
Leake spent time acclimating her acquisitions to the collegiate level while still developing the players she inherited. In 2022, the team went 21-9, tripling its win total and sending shockwaves through the KCAC.
“I’m just happy to be a part of the history that’s in the making for this program.”
Kylah Carter
“I loved the way she coached when I visited,” Landree Merriman, a freshman from Springtown, Tex. said. “After visiting schools around Kansas, Coach Leake was the only coach that I felt a connection with.” Coming in, Merriman said she knew it wouldn’t be easy because of Leake's expectations — which is to work for everything. “Overall, I think Coach Leake is a great fit for Bethel,” Merriman added.
This spring, Leake notes that the team’s focus is on development: “The girls are working super hard and getting a chance to individually work on things they don't get to during the season.” She’s also looking forward to a refined recruiting class for 2023: “This is my first true recruiting class, where we are about to be really picky about who we bring in and intentional about what they bring to the table.”
Leake hopes to see continued growth in her current players — as well as incoming freshmen — and for them to continue to make noise in the conference next season. “I believe they can,” she said.