The West Texan: WT Alumna Leads Volleyball Team to Success

Five years into her role as head volleyball coach, Kendra Potts ’04, ’07 is as passionate about being at WT as when she was named to the post. And why shouldn’t she be?

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In 2022, Potts led WT’s volleyball team to win the NCAA Division II National Championship—a first for the sport since 1997. And on Dec. 9, Potts and her team again played in the national finals , ending the season as the national runners-up.

But it’s not just her stellar record on the court that makes Potts glad to be a Buff.

It’s because WT is home.

“I’m a Panhandle gal through and through,” Potts said. “I always knew this place was special.”

Potts played volleyball as a student at Amarillo High School and continued her career at WT for four years. Her success in The Box led Potts to be inducted into the WT Hall of Champions in 2014.

Potts earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and an MBA from WT. While at WT, Potts met her husband, Jim; the couple now have three children, Ella, Easton and Elizabeth.

Potts was an assistant volleyball coach for the Lady Buffs from 2005-2008, until moving away to Corpus Christi for the next decade.

She spent six seasons as the top assistant volleyball coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under former WT head coach Tony Graystone. Then, starting in 2015, Potts served as the club director and recruiting coordinator for the Corpus Christi Force.

In 2019, though, her alma mater called. “To be away for 10 years, so much at WT had changed. It was even more impressive,” Potts said. “I love what’s going on now and the vision that WT has for its future.”

Potts was named the 15th head coach in WT volleyball history in December 2018; her first season in The Box was fall 2019.  

“From that first year through today, we’ve had continual improvements in the team,” she said. “It’s been a steady growth season after season.”  

Potts’s legacy was sealed after the 2022 season. She coached the Lady Buffs to a 33-4 overall record, completing a 26-game winning streak on the way to taking the national championship, WT’s first in 25 years.  

“I’m still pinching myself about that,” she said.  

Potts also was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year for NCAA Division II for the 2022 season—a well-deserved honor, her colleagues said.  

“I’ve seen Kendra firsthand as a student-athlete, an assistant coach and now our head coach,” said Michael McBroom, WT director of intercollegiate athletics. “What makes Kendra special is that she is laser-focused on making sure her players have a positive, meaningful and purpose-driven experience while at WT.  

She knows first-hand that the experience players have as a Lady Buff will shape lifelong friendships, ethics and decision-making that makes ‘Lady Buff for life’ very real and very impactful.  

“She’s a champion in everything she does. Always has been and always will be.”  “Kendra is highly competitive, and that’s contagious to the squad,” said Casey Shingler, who worked as an assistant coach with Potts from 2019 to 2022. “But she builds relationships with her athletes; she takes the time to understand them as people. And that’s such an important part of the way she coaches.” 

The national championship garnered the Lady Buffs much attention and enthusiasm, from current students and alumni alike.  “I love the love we have from our alumni,” Potts said. “It was so special the way the team brought so many people back together.”

That reconnection was due, in large part, to Potts’s own career at WT.  

“Being a proud alumna of WT, Kendra worked hard to re-engage with the alumni, near and far,” said Shingler, who currently is the volleyball associate head coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio. 

“She re-connected with the boosters and donors of the past and present, which helped reignite the community and the connection we had with them.”  

The team entered the 2023 season as national champions, which has brought both momentum and a challenge. WT’s volleyball team is now “the target,” Potts said.  

“But I’m proud of their maturity. They’ve persevered through this new spotlight that’s on them,” she said.

Stepping into The Box each day to lead the team is nonstop exhilarating, Potts said. The constant movement of the sport. The chemistry and trust of the athletes. The speedy communication that’s required. It’s all a rush.  

“Every single day is new,” she said.  

And to coach volleyball at WT makes it just all the more special.  “I’m so thankful for this place,” Potts said. “I love that I get to serve this program and this community that means so much to me.” 

She credits WT’s longstanding and strong athletic department for its commitment to excellence.  

“All of this is possible because of the foundation that was laid long before I arrived. There is such a rich history and tradition here of grit and belief that we can excel,” Potts said. “That’s a source of great confidence to me.”

Photo: West Texas A&M Univeristy Volleyball Coach Kendra Potts, center, is pictured during the 2023 NCAA Division II National Tournament. The Lady Buffs finished second in the tournament. Also pictured are Lady Buffs outside hitter Torrey Miller, a senior from Brownfield; assistant coach Bentley Odom; and associate head coach Trevor Callarman.