By Andrew Horschak
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The Burlington boys volleyball program is breaking in its third head coach in three years.
And, if Mike Jones has his way, the revolving door at the head of the bench will stop spinning.
After Tim Gesteland guided the program for 17 seasons, Kayla Uhlenhake and Ashley Pozel lasted two seasons and one season, respectively, before the Demons turned to the 35-year-old Jones, the junior varsity coach in the Burlington girls program for six years.
“I want a little stability in the program, for sure,” said Jones, an eighth grade math teacher at Karcher Middle School. “Tim Gesteland is a good friend of mine. He gave it up three years ago. I just wasn’t ready to be a head coach at the time. Finally, three years and two coaches later, I said, ‘Now is probably a good time to do it.’
“I definitely want to be a part of the program for awhile. I made a joke to the parents at the parent meeting that this isn’t a one-year contract. I plan to stick this out for quite a while.”
Jones graduated from Wilmot in 1999 before the Panthers sponsored boys volleyball. He was able to help out with the girls program, though.
“(Former coach) Paige Thelen let me be a manager so that I could learn the game,” he said. “I got to practice a lot with them and that’s how I learned to play.”
He ended up attending UW-Green Bay where he played on the club volleyball team.
Seven of the 14 players on Burlington’s roster are freshmen and sophomores. When asked for three players to watch, the first name that Jones mentioned was freshman David Paul.
“He’s by far our No. 1 setter,” Jones said. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him. He’s a good player. He’s a good kid. He has a good family. I definitely look forward to him doing some big things for us as a program.”
Sophomore outside hitter Malik Tiedt, an honorable mention All-Southeast Conference performer as a freshman, and junior middle hitter Brock Halbach were also singled out.
“They’re going to be fun to watch,” Jones said.
Along with Tiedt and Halbach, other returnees are seniors Daniel Rummler, Chandler Spiewak and Karson Wessing, junior Drew Pesick and sophomore Trey Krause.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jones said. “We’re going to be a young team. I can see a lot of my younger guys getting a lot of time on the court right away. They’re going to have to grow up quick, but I think they can handle it.”
After taking part in a six-team scrimmage on Monday, Aug. 29 at Westosha Central, the Demons officially open the season by participating in the 24-team Kettle Moraine Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 3.
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