By Peter Brown
The Scene staff
The St. Louis Community College volleyball program, which had its 2014 season canceled, will be back this fall and looking to rebound.
Shawn Summe, the district’s new athletic director, has hired Chris Arbini as the team’s new coach.
“You see his experience in the club levels and his background in coaching at the collegiate level as well,” Summe said. “That really made the difference.”
Arbini has a couple of immediate goals. First is filling the team with players who want to work and win.
Second, he’s striving for a change of culture.
“This is unique to college athletics because there are not many who are already on the team,” he said. “These student athletes are making history.”
The Archers struggled during their last three seasons, starting in 2011 with a 6-30 record and continuing with a first-round tournament loss in 2012. That was topped off by a 0-30 record in 2013.
Cancellation of last year’s season followed the departure of Johnna Kinney, who coached the team from 2000 to 2013. She quit just days before the start of the 2014 season.
Kinney declined to give her reason for leaving.
“It’s kind of how life goes,” former Athletic Director Sharon Marquardt said at the time. “Sometimes job offers pop up when you least expect. … You can’t blame a person for trying to secure full-time employment and that option was given to her, and she took it.”
Arbini’s involvement in volleyball goes back to his teen years. Now 38, he has experience at all levels of coaching, including high school, club leagues and Division I programs.
Arbini has dealt with big changes in programs. He was part of the transformation at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, which went from Division II to Division I.
Today, Arbini is in recruiting mode, reaching out to prospective Archers players from Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
He would like to attract students who already have played at the high school or club levels. They should understand individual positions but also show versatility, he said.
Arbini also places a high priority on academics.
“Studies are very important,” he said. “I want students to be at the top of the athletic department in studies, as well as (on) the court.”