Jody Levernier, head coach of the JDHS volleyball team, talks to players during a volleyball clinic at JDHS on Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Jody Levernier, head coach of the JDHS volleyball team, talks to players during a volleyball clinic at JDHS on Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

JDHS brings in new volleyball coach

For the third year in a row, a new face will appear on the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé volleyball sidelines.

For the third year in a row, a new face will appear on the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé volleyball sidelines.

Jody Levernier, a math and science teacher at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, was hired in the spring to become the next leader of JDHS’ volleyball program that has captured dozens of Region V Championships and one state championship in 2002.

“I just really want them to love the game and to love being here and to have fun,” Levernier said at practice on Thursday afternoon at JDHS. The middle school teacher replaces Brandee Gerke, who spent one season with JDHS. Two years ago the program was led by a handful of coaches including Dale Bontrager, Pat Gorman and Lesley Kalbrener.

Under an agreement between the Juneau Education Association and Board of Education, teachers get first priority for coaching positions in the district, allowing Levernier to supplant Gerke.

[High school volleyball coach legacy spans two generations]

Levernier hails from Illinois, where she played volleyball at the high school and community college levels. Levernier transferred to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and later moved to Juneau and began a teaching career at DMHS, coaching the DHMS Wolverines volleyball team almost every spring.

Without a club volleyball program, most Juneau youth don’t start playing until they enroll in middle school, and Levernier enjoyed sharing her passion for the sport to beginners.

“Unless they’ve played with their parents, they’re brand-new players,” Levernier said. “So it’s fun to watch that going from brand-new to being in eighth grade, kind of starting to figure the game out.”

Levernier has two sons: Caden, 13, and Colton Johns, 16, and said the time was right for the undertaking.

“I always thought it would be fun to coach at a high-school level but just didn’t think with small kids it was something I could do,” she said. “So now that they’re older and it came open it was a good time frame for me.”

“It’s going to be really awesome to watch these girls run defensive systems and offensive systems,” Levernier said. “After three years in middle school, you just barely get to that since they’re such new players.”

JDHS senior outside hitter Addie Prussing went to DMHS from 2013-2016, and credits Levernier and co-coach Mark Ibias for making the sport fun to learn.

“I think she will do really well,” Prussing said. “So far the practices have been really fun and they’ve also been really helpful. I don’t know how to put it, but she’s really good at adjusting. It doesn’t seem like she’s a middle school coach at all.”

Levernier said she’s taught or coached almost the entire varsity team. She said she’s still getting used to some of her players pulling up to practice in their own cars.

“Before, they were getting dropped off,” Levernier said.

The Crimson Bears play in their first games of the season against Ketchikan Sept. 6-7.


• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.


More in Sports

Compromise isn’t always possible, but when it is Alaskans benefit greatly when posturing is replaced with good-faith negotiations that yield results that help Alaskans. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
I Went to the Woods: The future of fish

The Forest Service cabin was a sauna so I went outside, stood… Continue reading

Thunder Mountain High School coach John Blasco, shown in action at the state tournament opening game against West Valley last week, was selected the 2024 4A Boys Coach of the Year by the Alaska Basketball Coaches Association. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Blasco, Young and Brock selected respective divisional state coaches of the year

Thunder Mountain, Mt. Edgecumbe, Petersburg coaches note the award is about the kids, communities.

Angoon’s Levi Johnson Jr. takes a shot under the basket against Hydaburg during the B Bracket championship of the 75th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Hoonah takes two titles, Angoon and POW one each in 75th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament

Longtime participants say little has changed over decades as huge crowds from communities show up.

A robin feeds on insects along the shore of Mendenhall Lake. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
On the Trails: Robins come, and it’s springtime

Spring comes, quite reliably, but sometimes reluctantly, by fits and starts. Every… Continue reading

The Thunder Mountain Falcons boys basketball team poses with their runner-up trophy after falling to East Anchorage 60-34 in the title game of the 2024 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Boys Basketball State Championship game on Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain boys fall to East 60-34 in state title game

Falcons’ historic final season ends after surprising run at championship, but journey will continue.

Thunder Mountain High School senior Jenna Dobson (5) defends Mountain City senior Morgan Maldonado during the Falcons’ 52-37 loss to the Lions in the 3rd/5th-place game of the 2024 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Girls Basketball State Championships on Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain High School girls end historic final season at state tournament

Falcons battle, but fall 52-37 in third-place game loss to Mountain City.

Thunder Mountain celebrates their 48-45 overtime win against the Service Cougars in a semifinal at the 2024 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Boys Basketball State Championships on Friday at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. The Falcons will play East Anchorage for the state championship Saturday. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain boys defeat Service, will play top-ranked East Anchorage for state title Saturday

Sixth-ranked Falcons score second upset of tournament, defeating second-ranked Cougars 48-45 in OT.

Thunder Mountain High School junior Cailynn Baxter (23) powers a shot against Colony junior Tonya Karpow, freshman Jericho Wuestenberg and junior Alycia Shelley during the Falcons 69-35 semifinal loss to the Knights at the 2024 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Girls Basketball State Championships on Friday at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Fourth-ranked Thunder Mountain girls fall to top-ranked Colony in state semifinals

Coach Lee says Falcons “built for competition, have earned the right to play tomorrow.”

A boreal owl perches in a spruce tree not far from a nest box from which he has been singing each night in March 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Alaska Science Forum: Boreal owls perform by daylight

On these March nights, a male boreal owl has been singing from… Continue reading

Most Read