Anyone that follows volleyball in Southwest Missouri most likely knows the name Tonya Peck. They also probably know that she has established herself as one of the elite coaches not only in the area, but in the state. On October 13th she reached another major milestone when she picked up her 400th win against the Forsyth Tigers.
Peck started her coaching career during her last semester in college when she was student teaching at Ash Grove and while she was there she coached her now assistant coach, Sarah Brannock. “Athletics have been a major part of my life since I could walk and I knew early on that I wanted it to stay that way,” said Peck, “I knew that I wanted to come back to the high school level to coach and prepare those that wanted the opportunity to play at the college level.” Her head coaching career started in 2000 in Fair Grove and she has had several successful seasons including a Final Four finish in 2013.
Peck has coached several players that have earned All- State honors and a few that have gone on to the collegiate level. Recent All-State honorees include Morgan Kensinger in 2012, Mikala Hicks in 2013, Jorden Stacey in 2014 and 2015, Haley Stallings in 2015, and Alana Findley in 2016. Kensinger, Hicks, Stacey and Stallings would all go on to play at the collegiate level. Kensinger stated, “Coach Peck made me as ready as possible. But the true impact she had was in teaching me how to be a leader and a good teammate.”
Peck says she loves coaching because of the lessons she gets to teach not only in volleyball but in life, “But, the most important thing I have learned over the past 16 seasons is that the game of volleyball isn’t really all that important. It’s the athletes that walk into the gym each day, commit themselves to the program, give 110%, and walk away learning to love the people around them and enjoy what they are doing.”