Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota head coach Hayley Fruin stands on the sidelines of the Class A Championship match at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Nov. 9, 2024, when the Vikings took on Mayer Lutheran. Fruin announced her resignation as volleyball head coach on Thursday.

MINNEOTA — After nine seasons with three state championships as the head coach of the Minneota volleyball team, head coach Hayley Fruin announced on Thursday that she will be resigning from her role with the team to focus on family and work. It was not an easy decision, she said, but felt that it was in the best interest of the team.

“I always said that I will coach as long as I can give my eight-to-five job 100% of me, my family, my three kids and my husband 100% of me, and also give this program 100%, as well as these girls, because that’s what they deserve,” Fruin said, stating that her life has gotten busier as her family has grown and she’s taken on more responsibilities with her job at Bremer Bank. “I’ve really struggled with this decision because selfishly, I want to coach because I just love it… It took me a minute to tell the girls, and it was a hard day, a hard conversation, but I know somebody else can come in there and do a great job.”

The decision came with a lot of tears, Fruin said, noting that she had always wanted to go out on her own terms while Minneota still had a good team, but the fact that she’s doing just that didn’t make the decision any easier. 

During her tenure as the team’s head coach, Fruin guided the team to a 251-42 record with three state championships and three state runner-up finishes. The Vikings went 24-12 in her final season with the team, finishing as Class A runners-up for the third time since 2018. They made it to the state championship match during each of their six seasons qualifying for the state tournament under Fruin.

Fruin was also a member of the Vikings’ first state championship team as a player in 2006.

“It’s a very special program,” Fruin said. “It’s meant the world to me that these kids have supported everything and anything, never questioned any ideas that we come up with or throw in extra practices and random morning practices that start at 5 a.m. Everybody just bought in.”

In her first year coaching Minneota in 2006, Fruin had her first-born baby. She had her third child during her final season with the team. She said that in between, her time coaching the Vikings helped her learn about herself and how she wants to be as a parent.

“I’ve learned more than I ever thought, more than volleyball itself. I grew up a lot, I matured a lot and it’s pretty special,” Fruin said. “There have been kids that have come through and had struggles and frustrations in moments at practice, and I think I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes at home, but what I appreciate is that I think parents understand how you can still support your kid and support the program, even if they don’t always believe… Every moment is a teachable moment for these high school kids, and I think that these parents understand that.”

While the Vikings experienced plenty of success on the court, one of the things Fruin said that she will miss most about coaching is working with assistant coaches Emily Citterman and Dana Peterson.

“We were group-texting all day long, every single day, and just the late-night film sessions that we’d all be at home on our couches texting each other about what we’re seeing and what we’re doing, you don’t always get that,” Fruin said, adding that Citterman and Peterson are her rocks more than they know. “You don’t always get a group of kids that are so special every single year… You don’t always get to experience that. I don’t mean us going to the state title [match] or anything like that, just having support from administration, parents, kids and coaches, and I’ve had that every single year and it’s rare, but it’s really cool when you get it. That’s just what I’m going to miss, is I could be who I wanted to be, I could be my authentic self, and my coaches, administration and kids accepted it and worked their tails off for a greater purpose of each other.”

Fruin added that while she won’t be a daily fixture of practice anymore, she intends to continue following the team as the kids’ biggest supporter, and that she hopes to be a part of Minneota volleyball forever in some capacity.

“I hope all the volleyball players that have gone through the program see that you can do it all,” Fruin said. “You can be a wife. You can be a mom. You can work. You can coach. It’s all about balance and being present, but you can do it all.”