East Lansing — There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude as new Michigan State volleyball coach Kristen Kelsay spoke at her introductory press conference.
Gathering herself between thank yous, one could see how much it meant for a former Spartans player and assistant coach to come home. For her family to be there right by her side. For the coach who once recruited her, Cathy George, to be sitting in the front row. And in an overall sense, for Michigan State to be investing so much in both her and her program.
Hiring Kelsay, a first-time head coach tasked with rebuilding a program in the sport’s toughest conference, is an investment for Michigan State. So is the new volleyball venue that athletic director Alan Haller teased at Wednesday’s press conference, which will house the next iteration of the program under Kelsay. Michigan State wants its volleyball program to be at the top of the sport, and it’s going to do what it needs to in order to get there.
“I’m just so grateful. I really am,” Kelsay said, wearing a Spartan logo on her shirt for the first time since 2018. “I have a deep sense of gratitude for the investment in the athletic program, which trickles down to the volleyball program, through me, to the players. And at the end of the day, it’s the student-athlete experience.”
Kelsay inherits a program that hasn’t made the NCAA postseason since 2017’s Elite Eight run, the last of seven straight tournament appearances that included Kelsay’s time as a player and assistant coach.
That’s where Kelsay wants her program to get to once again, but the eighth coach in program history has some work ahead of her. Kelsay needs to build a roster, hire a staff and establish relationships with all the donors and supporters behind the scenes. She’s also been visiting the homes of players to get to know them and build trust. For a coach for whom relationships are one of her three pillars — the other two being values and growth — that’s a big process.
Those relationships were also key in the hiring process. Haller nearly tabbed Kelsay back in 2022. She was a finalist for the job, but she didn’t feel ready for the leap from assistant to head coach. Haller hired Leah Johnson, while Kelsay spent a year coaching club volleyball in Nebraska and two working as associate head coach to Keegan Cook’s Minnesota program.
“There was a feeling last time that ‘Oh, I should. I should.’ Because it’s Michigan State, and it’s me, and it’s Cathy,” Kelsay said. “And now it’s the feeling of like, ‘I am. I am.’”
Kelsay indeed is, in part because Michigan State wasn’t going to let her get away this time. Once Michigan State and Johnson parted ways, Michigan State knew who it wanted. Kelsay was the top candidate in the hiring process, and Haller and the athletic department acted swiftly to get their coach.
“I’ve been watching her like I watch other coaches, and this wasn’t a normal search that I’ve done in the past,” Haller said. “I really zeroed-in on her and a few others, and made a decision fairly quickly.”
The investment doesn’t stop at hiring Kelsay. Those new digs that her program will play in are a big step, too. Part of the pitch is to have an athletics department-specific venue for sports like gymnastics and wrestling, plus commencements, concerts and other spatial needs.
But having a venue that can hold 4,500 to 6,000 fans every game is also to house the growth of a program that already broke and re-broke attendance records under Johnson. And that was before ever reaching that idyllic vision of a national contender that Kelsay and Haller share.
Why all this investment? Michigan State wants its programs to compete for championships, and that takes investment. Haller sees the growth of the sport nationally, with attendance and television records shattering every year. There’s potential. If you build it, they will come — but you also have to build it in the first place.
“I said this three years ago — volleyball is going to explode in this country,” Haller said. “I want to be in that conversation.”
Haller shared that his athletic department is authorized to proceed with an arena plan. A financial funding plan is also being created. The location is planned for the space between Harrison and Shaw roads south of both Breslin Center and the new IM sports building currently under construction.
The name? Prepare for corporate sponsorship, in addition to other MSU venues.
“If there’s somebody out there that’s listening that wants to put a dollar figure,” Haller said, “that name could be theirs.”
All the resources Haller and Michigan State plan to pour into the volleyball program come with the belief that Kelsay is the one who can take the program to the next stage.
“I want to be in the national conversation when it comes to volleyball,” Haller said. “We’re going to build a new arena. We’ve got the coach in place, and I think we got the foundation in place for volleyball just to take off here. And I’m excited.”
So is Kelsay to get started. There’s so much being invested in both her, her program and her vision for where it can be.
“I just want to keep building, keep building on the success, right?” Kelsay said. “And I’ve got nothing but gratitude to those who became before me. But we need to build a roster. We need to build a staff, and brick by brick, we need to build to have the privilege to compete for championships one day.”
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
