In the wake of longtime Hiram Terriers women’s volleyball Coach Brittany Dye’s departure from the program, Hiram has promoted from within to fill her position. Graduate Assistant Coach Macy Roell has been tapped to succeed Dye as the new women’s volleyball coach on an interim basis, as formally announced by Hiram on July 25.
“We are going to see how it goes and I am confident it is going to go really well,” Roell said. “I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity. I am excited for our athletes, and I think we are going to have a really good year and we will see what happens after the season.”
Dye served as the women’s volleyball coach for seven years before stepping down this summer to return to her alma matter Crestwood as the new Athletic Director.
Although Roell is only in her second year with the women’s volleyball program, she said that the Terriers’ Athletic Department reached out to her to replace Dye. According to Roell, she did not need much convincing to accept her first volleyball head coaching position.
“I wanted to do what was best for the program. I wanted to make sure our athletes felt comfortable and were excited to come back to Hiram and I think we as a collective felt like that may be the best move for the program,” she added.
In addition to assuming the head coaching responsibilities, Roell will also be continuing her collegiate studies in Hiram’s sports management graduate program as she seeks to earn a Master’s Degree.
She inherits a team with plenty of familiar faces, including longtime volunteer assistant Coach Holly Hoffman, and will attempt to provide stability as the program experiences a coaching change and a move to a new conference. All of Hiram’s athletic programs will now participate in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference
“I am really excited to move to the PAC,” noted Roell. “It that will be nice for all of our athletes as well as coaches travel-wise. I think we are going to compete well in the PAC and I think it is a good transition and I am excited to be able to be here for the first year.”
Roell arrived in Hiram after being recruited to join the coaching staff by her former volleyball teammate from the University of Rio Grande, Kacie Trame. Trame had worked as a graduate assistant coach and Roell said that Trame reached out to her when she was seeking a career change. She said that she had yearned to become reacquainted with volleyball after spending three years away from the sport when she graduated from college.
She accepted Trame’s invitation and became the second graduate assistant coach on staff while also beginning her studies for a Master’s Degree in sports management. Before coming to Hiram, Roell said that her previous coaching experience included coaching several club volleyball teams and also assisted with her alma matter, Valley View High School, during open gyms while attending college.
Originally from Farmersville Pike in Germantown, OH, Roell said that Hiram offered a very familiar setting to her, as her hometown was also a rural community.
In just one season serving as a graduate assistant coach for Dye, Roell said that she learned a lot from her predecessor.
“Brit was a great boss and a great mentor just about how to be a good coach and how to manage team dynamics and culture. It was great, I loved working with her,” she said.
Roell acknowledged that she may be a late bloomer when it comes to coaching volleyball, but she has a lot of experience leading volleyball teams, given her experience playing the setter’s position while attending Valley View High School and at the University of Rio Grande.
“That is the quarterback of volleyball some like to say,” she said. “You have a lot of responsibility. Most of the times you are calling the plays, you are telling your hitters what they are going to be hitting so there is a lot of responsibility.”
While Roell is still a newcomer to the Terriers’ program, she said that she already has the support of the team as well as her coaching staff and plans to take advantage of her age to connect with her team.
“I would love to have more experience than I do but things have not played out like that. As far as the age thing, I am slightly older than our athletes, but I am still young. I think as far as building relationships with them and trust, that age similarity is kind of an advantage,” she said.
