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Busters
name new volleyball coach
By
MIKE KESSINGER
When
Garden City Community College volleyball coach Julie  Brookover
announced on Jan. 26 she would not be returning, athletic director
Vic Trilli and his staff wasted no time in
beginning a search. In a statement released by the athletic department,
Trilli said it was imperative they find a coach as soon as possible.
It
didn't take the college long to find a successor, as within the
first week of the selection process, the committee of four, headed
by Trilli, had their choice.
Nikola
Petrovic, who spent last season as co-interim head coach at the
University of Alabama-Birmingham, was tabbed as the Lady Broncbusters'
new volleyball leader. He was introduced to a GCCC crowd at halftime
of the Busters men's basketball game Saturday against Colby.
In
just one season at UAB, an NCAA Division I program and a member
of Conference USA, Petrovic helped guide the Lady Blazers to a 14-13
record last season, a remarkable improvement from their 1-24 season
in 2004. Trilli called UAB Senior Associate AD Lee Moon about Petrovic,
and received information any selection committee member would want
to hear.
"He
came highly recommended," Trilli said in a phone interview. "I got
on the phone with Lee Moon, and he said, ?You are getting a steal
with this guy.' They really turned this season around."
It
wasn't just Moon who Trilli said he talked to and had speak highly
about Petrovic, but everyone they talked to had nothing but good
things to say about him.
Petrovic,
a native of Belgrade Yugoslavia, has been in the U.S for five years,
working as an assistant volleyball coach. He has been an assistant
for 13 years, spending eight years in Serbia and Montenegro, where
his coaching career started with the Red Star club team, one of
the best squads in the country. Before taking the job at UAB, Petrovic
was an assistant at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. After
Northwood, Petrovic became somewhat familiar with Garden City as
he spent six months as an assistant coach at Barton County.
"I
moved over here because I think it's time to become a head coach,"
Petrovic said. "I'm glad that I'm here."
With
coaching experience in both Europe and the U.S., Petrovic said he
thinks he has an advantage of being able to work with players on
techniques he learned before coming to U.S. along with the things
here.
"We
just work a little bit harder in the gym," Petrovic said. "We
just
try to work harder on repetition. Things that you can go more into
technique more and more, and a lot of conditioning."
Since
starting his new job last week, Petrovic has been able to work with
Buster team members in individual practices. He said he liked what
he has seen from them so far.
"Thing
of it is - is that they're not 6-(foot)-3, 6-4, 6-5, outstanding
hitters or anything, but they have wished to work hard," Petrovic
said. "That's what is most important. If you have kids on the court
that want to play, work hard, that's a huge thing. You can sometimes
have a group of kids - 6-2, 6-3 kids, and they're just not happy.
Right now, I think that we have a really good relationship, and
Mindy (Mills), my assistant coach, get along really well so far."
One
of the main objectives Petrovic wants to accomplish is to recruit
Kansas hard. He also wants to get volleyball camps rolling so where
he can help get kids not be just more interested, but playing volleyball
at a younger age, so they can develop their game quicker.
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