Returned alumna is now 'life-blood' of volleyball team

By Cami Carlson

May 7, 2009 | Telling kids to bump set and spike is how it all began for Utah State alumna Taubi Neves.

An assistant coach for USU's women's volleyball team, Neves said, "I think I just got lucky. There are so many people who are just trying to get their foot in the door with coaching and here I am with a sweet opening."

Neves said that after working at a volleyball camp she was approached by Assistant Coach Tom Peterson, who asked if she had ever thought about coaching. She hadn't. Soon after that, Neves was called by Grayson DeBose, USU's head volleyball coach, who asked Neves how she felt about coaching volleyball at her old stomping grounds.

"I love USU and being asked to coach here was the biggest unplanned opportunity I have ever had. Those unplanned opportunities are usually the best ones," said Neves.

Two years later Coach DeBose said that Neves is in charge of the "life-blood" in their program and her role is crucial as lead recruiter and travel coordinator.

This is a role that Neves never thought about when she played volleyball in college and realized there was a lot more goes on for coaches in their work than she realized.

Coach DeBose sat in his chair leaning backwards looking up while thinking and came down on all four chair legs after he had finished mulling over his responses about Neves.

"Her enthusiasm for the sport and her personality drew me to her and helped me make my decision to hire her," said DeBose.

DeBose said being an assistant coach is a hard job. It's a selfless job you have to be a flexible person and put the best interests of the team ahead of your own to-do list.

"Taubi Neves is someone who the team respects and someone that the team can relate to on a different level than with Tom and I. Taubi is a vital component in our team dynamics," said Debose.

Neves said the only hold-up that she had when accepting the job was that she had to commute from Provo where she is earning her masters in exercise science from BYU.

"I would go to my classes and leave directly from school to drive up to Logan for practice, stay the next morning in the office working with recruiting and plans, drive back to Provo for classes and then drive right back up here. I would collapse whenever I saw my bed," said Neves.

Neves explained how her thesis is on none other than volleyball and more specifically blocking.

Neves said that she wants to see what movements paired with different blocking techniques are most effective. Neves hopes to bring the results of her research back on to USU's volleyball court and put it to good use.

Neves's devotion for volleyball is apparent as spoke about her passion for volleyball with a higher intonation in her voice reflecting the smile that was on her face.

The best thing about this sport is that it is truly a team sport. With basketball you can have a star someone who can have the ball the entire play and that one person can carry the team. With the rules of volleyball you get three hits as a team said Neves.

"You look for your team for help to accomplish this one goal of winning. It's truly the one sport where a team is a team with no exceptions," said Neves

There are difficult aspects that go on behind the scenes that players don't think about said Neves. Approaching other coaches and players about USU when many of them haven't even heard of our volleyball program is challenging and trying to get the players who are stuck with an idea of playing for another school is also strenuous said Neves.

But the rewards that Neves chooses to concentrate on is watching recruits who make the decision to come to USU to play and also guiding the players to follow direction from their coaches and seeing them succeed in their attempts to do better. A player told Neves in a note, "Taubi Neves, you change lives."

Neves said, "That made my whole year."

MS
MS