Nikki Stevenson played volleyball off and on throughout her high school career. Her love for the sport did not end upon her high school graduation from Ackerman High School.
Stevenson will once again be reunited with volleyball as Kosciusko’s new head volleyball coach. She replaces Lauren Peresich, who is headed to Rankin County School District next semester.
Stevenson began her Kosciusko teaching career last fall and served as an assistant Whippets soccer coach.
“We played Kosciusko some in sports, and I was just excited to go to a bigger school,” Stevenson, 25, said. “I went to Ackerman. I was actually the last Ackerman class before they consolidated (into Choctaw County High School), so in high school, I went to a smaller school.”
During the fall, Stevenson said she and Peresich would discuss volleyball-related topics, and Stevenson enjoyed attending Whippets’ volleyball games. The early scouting will come in handy as she leads the program into its second-ever season.
“I think they are a great group of kids,” Stevenson said. “Just being there the short time that I’ve been there, this school has some great kids that have great attitudes, and they want to be there. They’re just excited to learn, and they have fun with it. I feel like they have so much potential to grow because it’s so new and they have a lot of young players to grow with.”
Kosciusko went 8-6 during its inaugural season and went 4-2 in Region 4-4A matches. The Lady Whippets reached the first round of the Class 4A postseason.
While teaching at Kosciusko is still somewhat of a new endeavor for Stevenson, the school presented a familiar face in former principal Cory Blaylock. Blaylock was Stevenson’s high school principal at Ackerman, which made accepting the Kosciusko teaching position a no-brainer.
“Mr. Blaylock was my high school principal, and he’s the one who hired me,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson teaches human anatomy and physiology, and physical science.
“I really look forward to growing with these kids at Kosciusko and with that program because volleyball is just so much fun,” she said. “I hope it can make it fun for them, too, like my coach did.”
