Former Bulldog named BK volleyball coach

BOISE — Former Sandpoint and Boise State volleyball player Allison Sletager was named the new head volleyball coach at Bishop Kelly High School this week.

Sletager has been an assistant coach for the 4A athletic powerhouse from Boise for the past three years, and was understandably excited to land her first high school head coaching gig.

“I always told everybody if an opportunity came up I wanted to coach,” said Sletager, who also coaches the Club Idaho U16 Gold team. “I feel so fortunate to work for Bishop Kelly. It reminds me of Sandpoint; it has that small community feel.”

Sandpoint and Bishop Kelly have developed a bit of a 4A rivalry in recent years. The Bulldogs beat the Knights to win the school’s lone state baseball title in 2006, while the Knights won two of the more epic playoff football games in recent memory at Barlow Stadium.

Sletager was on the sidelines last year when the Knights beat the Bulldogs for the second consecutive year in the girls state soccer final. She admits it would be fun to coach against her alma-mater, a decent likelihood with two solid volleyball programs used to competing at state.

After a successful career at Sandpoint, Sletager played volleyball for Boise State in 2004 before a rotator cuff injury cut her college career short, enabling her to focus more on coaching.

She cites longtime Sandpoint Volleyball Club coach Jack Dyck as a major influence in her coaching style.

“I try to emulate and model Jack’s style as much as possible, be as Jack-like as possible,” said Sletager. “Jack is probably the best coach I’ve ever had. He has so much confidence, and he instills that in his players.”