By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
With a 4-0 showing at the Western Athletic Conference tournament Saturday in Dodge City, Great Bend High School Volleyball Coach Shelly Duvall dipped her toes into the history books. Her 181 career wins are already the most by any GBHS coach, but the 30 wins this year put her in a tie for most in a single season. With her mother.
Duvall's success at GBHS is generational. Her mother, Jackie Cook, coached the Lady Panther volleyball team to a 145-77 record from 2001-06. Duvall's grandfather, Jack Bowman, strung together some of the greatest cross country and track and field seasons in school history. The school's track meet in the spring was named after Bowman in 2022.
"I would definitely say I was destined to be a coach since the day I was born," Duvall said. "Papa Jack and my mother have been probably the two biggest inspirations in my life as far as how to treat kids and love the kids you are coaching, and showing passion for what you do."
Kelsey Sciacca won 158 games in her tenure as GBHS volleyball coach. Duvall entered the 2023 season with 151 career wins and has surpassed Sciacca's mark. She is now knocking on the door of the single-season record.
"At the beginning of the season, I told the team there was something special with this group," said Duvall. "I don't know what it was at the time, but I knew they were going to do something big. I just wasn't quite prepared for the season they've had so far."
Duvall has done her winning at a good rate. Her career win percentage has climbed to .653 this year, which also ties her with her mother, and ranks her second only to Mike Minton (.761) among coaches with at least 100 matches.
"We've had some great athletes come through in the last six years that I've been here," Duvall said. "The credit goes to them and the coaching staff I've had here the last few years."
Minton won 29 games and led the Lady Panthers to state in 2000. Cook took over the program the following year, resetting the record book with a 30-9 season and a school-best third-place finish at state. Current Lady Panther Basketball Coach Cindy Beck was named Player of the Year that season, and Cook was named Coach of the Year by several outlets.
Cook remains active in sports. For years, she has worked at the state track meet in Wichita. She still runs the clock for the Panther football and basketball teams.
"She kind of stays away from anything volleyball-related because she still has her old-school opinions and it's pretty funny," said Duvall. "Of course, I always ask her after matches what her input is. She always has great things to say other than missed serves. She still just cannot stand them."
Bowman coached cross country for 12 seasons at GBHS, winning a boys' state championship in 1999 and finishing second in 1998. The Lady Panthers won five straight WAC titles to end his tenure, and the boys won four of those years. His Panther boys' track teams finished third at state in 1994 and 1995, and the Lady Panthers finished second at state in each of his last three seasons.
Duvall's lineage also made an impact prior to coaching. While a student at Ellinwood High School, Duvall set the school record for most career volleyball assists. Duvall, throwing the old javelin before the change in 2002, also set the school record in that event at 135 feet, 8 inches.
"I was a jav thrower," she said. "I did hurdles only because someone made me do them, which was my mother. I fell in love with being outside and being part of a dominant team and doing something outside of the realm of what everybody tends to like to do. Papa Jack was an inspiration not only as a coach but as a human being in general."
Duvall's Lady Panthers will host a Class 5A sub-state tournament on Saturday, Oct. 21. Great Bend is looking to advance to state for the first time since 2020. After taking some time off in the winter, Duvall returns as the javelin coach for the Panther track teams in the spring.
"Being part of a legacy family in coaching is kind of why I keep doing what I'm doing," she said. "Once I get to the point of not enjoying it anymore, that will be my sign to walk away. Right now, I'm enjoying it to the fullest."