Oct. 18 marks the 50th year for volleyball at West Texas A&M University. In the spring of 1964, Coach Allene Stovall started WTAMU’s first volleyball and women’s basketball programs. From 1964 to 2014, the Lady Buff’s volleyball program has seen fourteen head coaches and 292 student athletes that are known to have competed in the sport.
Since the beginning, the program has received three National Championships,  been awarded for two National Coaches, and three National players of the year. WTAMU has also produced 25 All-Americans Lady Buffs, 53 All-American Honors, has won 13 Regional Championships,  dominated the Lone Star Conference with 18 championships and has competed in 1,067 match victories since Coach Stovall.
“The United States was divided by states for women’s sports those states that organized not all 50 state’s organized,” John Hasse, Assistant Athletic Director Concessions, Camps, Facilities, said. “WT played schools that were AIAW [Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women] just like the NCAA, this was before the NCAA recognize women’s sports.”
When Coach Stovall first started the volleyball program there was no money given for uniforms, travel or equipment. The uniforms were bought by Coach Stovall’s parents and were used by all women’s teams. The team at the time barely had equipment to practice with and could almost never get into what WT knows as “The Box”.
“The Box” was originally used for men’s basketball games and practices. The volleyball games were played in the old gymnasium of Old Main’s basement. Since money was hard to come by from the administration, money for gas came from both team members and the coach’s pocket – it also meant carpooling with the coach and other teammates to games and tournaments.
To help raise money for the team, players would give blood and plasma and receive $15 in cash that paid for gas. The girls would go and pick up beer cans to recycle or clean the bowling alley.
In the fall of 1976, WT honored five of its volleyball players and three of its basketball players with West Texas State University First Athletic Scholarships Awards. Players that received these awards for volleyball were players Sherrie D. (Blanchard) Williamson, Deidre L. (Hester) Roach, Debbie Gray, Dana (Bagley) Hatch and Debra L. (Harris) Payne.
In 1990, WT received its first NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship under head coach Kim Hudson, who also was named National Coach of the Year by the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball.
“First of all doing the fight song after every single game whether you win or lose, you have to stand there and take it and if you ever get a bad loss it’s like man that’s tough,” Lee Golden, senior general studiesmajor, said.
West Texas A&M might look like every other Division II school from the outside; but when you come to games, sit in on a class, or have lunch with a professor, it’s not the same. Here at WT, we are a new kind of creature – the traditions and values that are respected here are ones that were forged from the flames but are kept to high standards due to the history behind them.
Traditions such as the fight song after every game in every sport, attending the homecoming parade in the town square, or hearing the familiar battle cry “Ehhhhhhvry-buddy uppppp” at The Box.
Traditions like these are what get the new and younger fans involved with the older fans.
“After every game in the locker room [Head Coach Jason Skoch] was always like ‘before I even finish, go out there and thank everyone [the boosters and the fans] for coming.’” Golden said. “The boosters are the coolest here at WT, you actually meet them, hang out with them, talk with them and they get to know you and hug you. That was probably the biggest thing that changed me, the way my attitude was and what helped me change my attitude on the team was honestly hugs from boosters. The hugs from boosters forced me to open up, I had to do the motion of hugging and just the act of me opening my arms just helped me embrace so many more people here. It helped me to embrace the whole thing about being a Buff.”
“There’s something here that creates an aura; some of the conversations that [coaches] have had with the recruits like ‘WT is offering some money but if you want to win go there but if you want to play where people value your sport go there.’” Cocah Jason Skoch, Head Volleyball Coach, said.
Coach Jason Skoch has coached the Lady Buffs now for five years and has carry on the dominancy power that WT holds in the Lone Star Conference and the world of volleyball. Coach Skoch is the fourteenth head coach for WT and has guided the team to a 2014 20-3 winning season.