by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Blair Russell, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s only first team volleyball All-American, is returning to the Lady Blue Devil program as assistant coach.
“I’m super excited to have Blair back in the Blue Devil family,” said KCKCC head volleyball coach Mary Bruno. “We had three great candidates for the position. I just felt she was the best fit for the Blue Devil program.”
Russell earned NJCAA first team All-America honors in 2014 after leading the Blue Devils to the championship of the consolation bracket of the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Arizona. In addition to her All-American honors, Russell was named the Most Valuable Player in the Jayhawk Conference while earning All-Jayhawk and All-Region VI first team honors.
An outside hitter, she was fifth nationally in kills (516) and eighth in kills (3.94) per game. Ninth in the NJCAA national tournament and eighth in the final NJCAA poll, the Blue Devils finished 32-10 on the season.
Earning an associate’s degree at KCKCC with a major in journalism and minor in convergent media, Russell was a mid-term graduate in 2014 and then transferred to Missouri Western in St. Joseph in January of 2015 where she played two years while earning a Bachelor of Science in journalism. An MIAA Scholar Athlete and MIAA honorable mention as a senior, she was on the honor roll both years.
Russell said she was pondering various graduate assistant positions when the KCKCC position opened.
“I knew I wanted to coach and when I found out the position was open, I knew what I wanted to do,” Russell said. “I just felt I was pulled to come here. It’s real exciting to be back with Mary where I can get as much coaching advice as I did when I was playing for her. “
Russell will work primarily with the hitters, leaving more time for Bruno to work with the setters and defensive setters.
“I’ll be doing anything Mary needs,” she said. “We work on a tight schedule and get the most out of every minute of the time we have for practices. It’s exciting, I’m really looking forward to being back.”
A graduate of Marysville (Kan.) High School where she was a three-sport standout, Russell almost gave up competitive volleyball after injuring her shoulder her freshman year at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas. However, once in contact with Bruno, Russell decided to continue to compete at KCKCC where her off-season workouts elevated her to All-American status.
“Her hard work and dedication during the off-season between her first and second years here made the difference in her athletic achievements,” Bruno said.
In addition to Russell’s first team selection, teammate Lily Thornberg became the first Lady Blue Devil to be named to the All-American second team.
“I was so thrilled and so incredibly proud,” said Bruno, who was named Jayhawk Coach of the Year. “I knew how hard Blair and Lily worked but what’s so wonderful is to see them get recognition from other people and other coaches. They’ve worked so hard throughout their entire careers here and what makes their honors so special is that they earned them with their hard work.”