SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team will be under new leadership this fall as Erin Fletcher has been selected as the new head coach. She is following the successful tenure of the previous head coach, Nikki Noble, who helped guide the team to multiple state appearances over the years. 

“I’m so excited,” said Fletcher. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch these girls play the last couple years as a (referee). I’m really excited to be able to step in after Coach Noble and continue on that winning and competitive spirit that they’ve had for so long and kind of take it now to the next level.” 

Her love for athletics came from growing up in an athletic family of basketball players, but in second grade, she became the first in her family to start playing volleyball. From there, a passion for volleyball began to grow.

“I loved the camaraderie that you got to have during volleyball,” she said. “The fact that it was more excitement and celebration and just really getting to celebrate every win with your teammates on that court.” 

Fletcher said she remained persistent in working on her athletics, and once she got into high school at River Ridge, she became a three-sport athlete. Moving into college, she attended two years at Green River College, where she played both volleyball and basketball. 

Her first experience with coaching came when she moved into the Ephrata area and began as the Tigers’ girls’ basketball coach. At the same time, she started to play in women’s pickup leagues around the area and met the Tigers’ then head volleyball coach Britney MacLeod.  

As Fletcher and the other coaches bonded with each other on the court, she eventually decided to join them on the Tigers’ volleyball coaching staff. 

Throughout her previous coaching endeavors, Fletcher learned that she loves to help develop these young athletes. 

“I love creating the whole athlete,” said Fletcher. “They are student athletes, student comes first over athlete, and it’s always been very important to me that you develop that entire athlete because there’s so many good things that come out of sports and especially out of team sports.” 

Aspects like time management and dedication that are learned on the court are also lessons that she said each of these athletes can directly transfer into aspects of their life not related to sports. 

“Not everyone goes on to play D1 or go play college, but those skills that you learn while competing as an athlete do carry over into your day-to-day life as you grow up and get older,” said Fletcher. “I love watching that light bulb come on for players when they finally pick up a skill or they get better at a skill, being able to teach them and watch that growth and development in the players is one of my favorite things as a coach.” 

Stepping in as the head coach position for Soap Lake, Fletcher said her goal is to work with the Eagles to continue the volleyball program’s long-standing history of success at the 1B level. Soap Lake is losing a strong group of senior leadership in the offseason, so the main focus is to help build the young and returning players on to the success that already exists. 

As summer workouts have begun, she said there is already a lot of excitement coming from the players who are ready for the start of a new season. With time, she wants the players, consisting mostly of incoming freshmen and returning sophomores, to step into their new roles and build onto their skills. 

Fletcher said she wants to help the players bring excitement into practice and onto the court this upcoming season. This excitement and energy is something she feels brings life to the sport. 

“In basketball, there’s a lot of start and stop and you can’t really make adjustments as the game’s going on. You have to call a timeout to stop it,” said the coach. “But volleyball, there’s a dead ball after every point and being able to celebrate that excitement, that’s the spirit of volleyball.” 

As Fletcher steps into her new role, she is excited to see what she can accomplish with the Eagles program. 

“Soap Lake really does have a history; they love volleyball in this city,” she said. “Volleyball is very important to the culture, to the town, to this high school; they’ve had a lot of success in this sport. I’m excited about the opportunity that we have here to take on these girls that truly do love this sport and continue to grow and develop them.”