Beth Blank, Liberty Bell High School’s new volleyball coach, owns the Twisp Terrace Lodge with her husband, Eric.
Brings experience, enthusiasm to new position
Local volleyball enthusiast and high school mom/volunteer Beth Blank has been named to coach the Liberty Bell High School girls for the 2022 fall season.
Blank, whose daughter Ellie will be a senior on the team this year, has been around the Mountain Lion program, helping out and learning under former coach Christine Scott for the past four years.
Serving as a volunteer for the youth-oriented Confluence Volleyball development program under the tutelage of longtime club coaches Greg Knott and Gene Dowers the past few years, Blank credits the two former high school coaches with tremendous mentorship in grooming her for the Liberty Bell position.
Knott is a former Liberty Bell coach while Dowers spent a number of years coaching the Pateros Nannies and currently serves as a high school volleyball official with WIAA State Championship Tournament experience on his résumé.
The News caught up with Blank at the Wagner Memorial Pool after last Tuesday’s Killer Whales Swim Meet where she was volunteering as a race judge. Her 14 year old son, Gavin, is a member of the swim team.
Passion for the game
She played only one year of organized high school volleyball in her hometown of Council Bluffs, Iowa, but developed a passion for the game almost immediately.
“I became a student of the game after that one year in high school,” said the new coach. Since then, she has attended a number of clinics where her learning curve was steep and she continued to grow in her interest, knowledge and love for the game.
Blank recently served as junior high coach at Liberty Bell, and has volunteered at the high school level for several years while daughter Ellie has been a team member. Ellie returns to the program this fall for her senior year after sitting out both volleyball and tennis last year, recovering from major reconstructive knee surgery. She suffered significant anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage while at a tennis camp in the Seattle area last summer, forcing the one-year layoff from competition.
“I’m excited,” said the new coach. “We will have a really young team, and they have worked hard this summer. This group is very athletic, and we have some height. I’m looking forward to putting what I have learned to work in rebuilding the program for the long term.”
Likewise, Liberty Bell Activities Director Michael Wilbur is also high on his newest staff member. “We’re very excited to have Beth return to coaching at Liberty Bell,” he said. “She had previously coached on the junior level and did an amazing job. Beth is organized, energetic, has a strong vision for her program and deeply cares about supporting her players, both as athletes and as people.”
Wilbur pointed to Blank’s strong track record in the junior high program, using the superlative “amazing” in describing her performance at that level. “She understands the importance of general athletic development — how strength and conditioning can help players excel on the court and develop habits of success. Beth is a great communicator and I anticipate that parents and players both will appreciate how well she lays out what they can expect and what is expected from them.”
Making connections
Knott, a longtime volleyball guru in this area, echoes Wilbur’s enthusiasm. “There could not be a better person for the job,” said the former Mountain Lion coach.” She has an amazing way of connecting with the girls and getting them to respond.”
Knott pointed specifically to her time as coach of the junior high program, and how she has worked with the girls in the Confluence program. “She knows the kids and seems to develop a solid connection with each and every one of them,” he said. “She’s got a job ahead of her, but she has what it takes and has some good younger athletes coming up. She’ll do just fine.”
Blank replaces Christine Scott, who left the program last year after five years at the helm, relocating to the Tri-Cities area in a family move.
“Replacing Coach Scott is no small task, said Wilbur. “Christine understands the game well and is a fiercely competitive person. We had some good seasons while she was at the helm. Coach Blank understands where we stand at the moment. Fortunately, we also have some very dedicated and dynamic young players and Beth is going to do a great job helping them through some growing pains and getting them to a point where they really thrive.”
Blank lives in the Twisp area where she and her husband, Eric, own and operate the Twisp Terrace Lodge at the Rockchuck Ranch on Highway 20.
