Coaching and Sale Creek volleyball has been a way of life for Erin Briner since she was a little girl.
While she was growing up, she spent hours upon hours in the gym with her mom as she coached the Sale Creek volleyball program for more than 30 years and now it's her turn to run the program.
Erin Briner is in her third year at the helm of the Sale Creek volleyball team, and they've already had an incredibly successful season under her leadership.
Before Erin became a coach, she had the unique opportunity to play for her mom at Sale Creek and while she did, she helped the Panthers to their first ever State Tournament appearance back in 2011 placing third that season.
After high school she went onto play for three years at Lee University until she suffered an unfortunate hip injury that ended her career.
Once her playing days were over, she knew she wanted to stay around the game and make an impact in a different way on the sport and that was by getting her feet wet doing something she had been around her entire life, coaching. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach to her mom on the Sale Creek Panthers volleyball team for a few years until her mom was ready to hand the reigns over to her as the head coach three years ago.
Now, just because mom was no longer the head coach doesn't mean she wasn't still on the bench. Her and Erin simply swapped positions, Erin took over as head coach, and mom became her assistant (her sister is an assistant coach as well). A pretty cool, full circle type moment for the family if you ask me.
"Definitely a family affair... We love Sale Creek, we love volleyball, we love the community, we're sports people."
Since Erin has taken over this program, they've won 103 matches compared to just 23 losses and the Panthers have yet to lose a District game while she's been the head coach (knock on wood).
This year's team is already 32-2 with most of their season having been played. They have seven matches remaining on their schedule with one tournament still upcoming this weekend.
"This group is just (a bunch of) great girls that love to be around each other." Briner said about her team.
That chemistry has been a major reason for this team's success this season but when you have so much success sometimes complacency sets in, and as a coach how do you keep your team fighting?
"That's the million-dollar question," said Briner. "We've talked all year that we've got to approach every game the same way or else when you get to the tournament you can't just switch it on."
She also stated that she reminds them of the heartbreak they suffered as a team losing in the State Tournament last year and that has seemed to fuel their fire all season long.
Some players that you need to watch out for on this team are senior Ava Higgins, who coach Briner labled as their "gentle giant" but ultra reliable as a player and as a person. Additionally, her younger sister, sophomore, Karma Higgins, who's one of their setters has beautiful hands, has a great feel for the game, and where the open spots are on the court.
Also watch out for the twins, Hailee and Kiley Blaylock who are a pair of talented sophomores. Kiley is the Labaro which is new to her this year, but coach Briner has already been impressed with how quickly she's picked it up. Hailee patrols the middle for the Panthers and she's incredibly accurate when she puts the ball over the net and is an extremely reliable blocker for their team as well.
A couple of other players coach Briner mentioned were, senior Lanee Cotter, senior Kenzie Park, and junior Enslee Norwood.
This program has enjoyed a lot of success recently as they've appeared in seven straight State Tournaments, they've won eight consecutive Region Championships, and 13 District Championships in a row!
They'll look to capture their first State Title in program history this October.
If you want to hear the full interview with Erin Briner, you can check it out here.