From 1989 through 2011, the Columbus North volleyball program had 23 consecutive winning seasons.
The Bull Dogs have had only two winning seasons since then, but new coach Jenna Grider-Ortega hopes to return them to their winning ways. She was named North’s 11th head coach on Tuesday.
“I know what North used to be, and I just want to build that program up to what I know it can be,” Grider-Ortega said.
Grider-Ortega is a lifelong area resident. She played two years at Columbus East and two years at Hauser, graduating in 2006.
While in high school, Grider-Ortega began coaching for former North coach Megan Shaff in the Columbus Pups program. She coached the JV team at Waldron for two years and has spent the past seven seasons as eighth-grade coach at Hauser.
“I’m super excited,” Grider-Ortega said. “I never thought it would go this big, but the opportunity was there. I didn’t want to think later in life, ‘I wish I would have given it a try.’”
Grider-Ortega also has coached in the HAVOC (Hope Area Volleyball Club) program the past 13 years. She has been co-director of HAVOC the past five years and plans to continue in that role.
“She played volleyball, and she coached at Hauser, and they’ve had a pretty good program over the past few years,” North athletics director Brian Lewis said. “The overall commitment that she was willing to make to our program to make our girls better to push them to their full potential is something that I thought she could really bring to the table. She’s been around volleyball for quite some time. She’s the director of HAVOC club volleyball program, and she’s also coached several of our kids, so just having that person that your familiar with, I think that’s definitely something that stood out when I was speaking to her.”
Grider-Ortega takes over for Quin Shoultz, who resigned after leading the Bull Dogs to a 9-22 record in her first season as head coach.
Grider-Ortega plans to retain longtime North assistant Kathy Cox, who was the junior varsity coach last season and will become the freshman coach. Grider-Ortega played for Cox at Northside Middle School.
“I think just holding girls accountable,” Grider-Ortega said. “It’s going to start with the younger girls, being more involved with the junior high and elementary girls. Just being a positive role model and getting girls involved at a younger age and building from there, that’s my goal.”
Grider-Ortega works in purchasing for The Christopher Stephan Corporation. She lives in northwestern Jennings County near Elizabethtown with her husband Matthew and two children.
“I’ve just been around the game for so long, and I’ve always coached high school level when it came to club ball,” Grider-Ortega said. “I think just finally being able to get up to that competitive level, I didn’t know what my schedule would be like, and committing to this schedule is huge. Now, I feel like I’m at a place in my life right now where I can get back to that competitive level.”
