Last month, I released the 18th episode of “Work Hard, Play Harder” with Wabasso Rabbits volleyball head coach Barb Johnson. This week, I am dropping my podcast episode 19 with Russell-Tyler Ruthton Knights volleyball head coach Daynica Brown.

Brown, a South Dakota State alum and former college volleyball player, made the easy transition into coaching over a decade ago.

After completing her seventh season with RTR, Brown amassed the most wins in school history, won two tournaments and was the No.1 team in the class at one point. Brown was also named coach of the year and was one of three teams that beat the eventual state champion, the Minneota Vikings.

This podcast gives listeners insight into Brown as a coach and as a person. It shows much time Brown is willing to dedicate to her players to prepare them to play at their very best.

Brown talked about her “why” in playing sports in this podcast episode. Brown played basketball and volleyball growing up and pursued sports in college at South Dakota State.

We discuss some of Brown’s fond memories of her playing days. We also recap the season and talk about some of her favorite memories from it.

One of her many favorite memories Brown had was the matchup against the Vikings in Tyler. It was a five-set match in which four of the sets were extended beyond the 25-point mark. Although RTR lost, it was still an exciting match in Brown’s eyes.

“That game was electrifying with how the crowd was. It was truly two titans going at it,” Brown said. Both teams were undefeated in conference at that point. Both teams gave it our all. Obviously, this season got cut shorter than we would have liked. However, it was an amazing season.”

“There was so much to be proud of. We did beat Minneota and won that Class A showcase. I was happy with the versatility my team showed throughout the season because every single starter went down to an injury. It is bittersweet because we battled with Minnesota and took them to five sets, but I’m grateful that they won the state championship because it represents our area very well.”

Brown added that she is excited for next year and hopes to duplicate the success of this past season. While Brown said she appreciated being named coach of the year by her peers, she said that the award is about the players, not her.

“I am just humbled that these area coaches would vote for me to be coach of the year,” Brown said. “It has been amazing. These kids want to be pushed and they want to do the extra work. It was an amazing team and year to coach.”

The Russell-Tyler Ruthton Knights are coming off a season where they lost in the section championship to the eventual state champion Minneota Vikings.

This podcast can be found online at https://vimeo.com/778662524