Former Tiger Laurie Quigley returns as Central Valley coach

Laurie Quigley is coming home.

The volleyball coach at Squalicum the past two seasons was hired to take over the program at Central Valley for the 2015-16 season.

Central Valley athletics director Butch Walter was adamant about the name: Laurie Quigley.

That name may not ring a bell.

Quigley is the daughter of West Valley volleyball coach Julie Yearout and former Lewis and Clark football coach Tom Yearout.

Quigley played volleyball for her mother, who coached at LC.

“Fall in our family was a pretty busy time,” Quigley laughs. “I think some kids thought it was kind of strange to have both of my parents so involved in my high school years, but I thought it was great. I loved it.”

Quigley played four years of volleyball at Western Washington before taking on her first coaching assignment at Squalicum.

“She thought about coming back home after college, but she decided that she wanted to start out on her own instead of trying to start out in our shadow,” her mother said. “I think that was a smart choice on her part.”

“I was really lucky to work at Squalicum,” she said. “It gave me a good base and I got to work with some great kids and a great administration to start out.

“I think it was an especially good experience for me to see what I can do, see who I was as a coach. I’ve had some great role models and I stole a lot from them.”

Quigley takes over the Central Valley program from Amanda Bailey, who left after two years when her Air Force husband was promoted and assigned to Shaw Air Force Base in Columbia, South Carolina.

Both of Bailey’s teams reached the state Class 4A tournament and the 2014-15 team brought home CV’s first trophy after an eighth-place finish.

“I have heard some great things about what Amanda did with the program from a lot of different people,” Quigley said. “I’m excited and looking forward to getting there and getting to work. I’m stepping into an established volleyball program.

“I know the Greater Spokane League is one of the best leagues in the state and I’m excited to get the chance to coach at that high level.”

Quigley said she’s excited to share what she learned from playing four years at the collegiate level with her players.

“Playing college sports is the next level and is very exciting,” she said. “I got to see what that next level looks like as well as how that program is run. At Western, it’s more like a family than it is a team and I took a lot away from that experience and from how we did things. It was a great place to play and we were very successful as a team.

“Having that experience, I can talk to my players about what it takes to get there.”

Julie Yearout is excited to see her daughter earn the opportunity to come home and coach, but she insists she’s not about to run out and start setting up nonleague matches with the Lady Bears.

“Are you kidding?” she laughed. “She’s already a better coach than I am. Why would I want to play her?”

“My mom is a very humble person, but I don’t believe that for a minute,” Quigley laughed.

Yearout takes West Valley on a cross-state road trip instead of playing in an all-Spokane Valley jamboree to start the season, but she does hold out a sliver of hope for a family meeting.

“I think it would be cool if we were to meet up in the same pool at the (annual) Crossover Classic,” Yearout said. “That might be kind of fun.”