Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

Monument Valley volleyball coach leaves lasting impact

November 22, 2010 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


Just wanted to throw my two cents in regarding the retirement of Kayenta Mounument Valley volleyball coach Lucinda Nash after a 37-year career.

Monument Valley won its third straight Class 3A championship with an incredible 40-0 record. The Mustangs won 119 matches over those three years. Nash won eight titles in all as the team's coach.

This season was all the more special for Nash because her youngest child, Bradley, was a major factor as the team leader. Lucinda's husband, Robert, is the girls' basketball coach at Monument Valley.

Bradley, who will play volleyball at New Mexico State, was selected as the Class 1A-3A Player of the Year by The Arizona Republic, and her mother was chosen Coach of the Year. What a perfect way to wrap things up.

I had talked to Lucinda Nash once or twice on the phone but did not meet her in person until the state finals in Prescott Valley. You could tell the respect she commands from her players' reactions. That, too, is a tribute. I am sure most of the players she coached along the way would say that Nash helped them in areas beyond sports.

That is what being a coach is all about -- having that type of impact on your student athletes.

Nash is to be congratulated, and best wishes in whatever direction she decides to go from here.