Girls Volleyball: Veteran Rosary coach Kasper resigns

Updated: February 13, 2012 9:01PM

It’s been quite a run, and one Lisa Kasper admits she never expected would last this long.

The Rosary High School volleyball coach announced Monday she is stepping down after 18 years with the program — guiding it the last 13 years as varsity head coach — to spend more time with her family. Her teams went 312-159-6 with 10 straight regional titles (2001-10) and two conference titles (2004, 2007).

“When I started as the sophomore coach, I never went into it thinking I was even going to be the varsity coach,” Kasper said. “When (then varsity coach) Debbie Fitzgerald left (five years later), I had twins who were a year old.”

Athletic director Mary Lou Kunold, who had started the program in 1973 and coached it for 12 seasons, can be pretty convincing though.

“I didn’t expect to be there 13 years, but I kept coming back,” said Kasper, who had many players go on to play college ball. “I don’t know the number but that was rewarding. It’s been nice to be able to follow players like Christine Hartmann who played at Kentucky in the NCAAs this year, and even a couple who went on to play professionally.”

Maggie Griffin (Michigan State and Nebraska) and Rachael Hartman (Minnesota) both played pro ball in Puerto Rico.

Kasper’s twins — Melissa and Joe — will be freshmen at Oswego High School this fall. Her son, Chris, will be a senior.

“I coach Melissa’s club team and both she and Joe have played travel soccer, and Chris played baseball,” Kasper said. “Falls were pretty much a blur. My husband, Steve, did a great job of running them around when they were little, but I never seemed to be around for the start of the school year for Chris.”

Now, she will.

Kunold, meanwhile, hopes to have Rosary’s fifth head coach in place by the end of March or the beginning of April to be prepared for June’s summer camps.

“Lisa will be missed and this will be our first coach to come in from outside,” Kunold said. “But we’ll make it work. We’ve got a good program and a lot of talent. I’ve been getting a lot of calls.”

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