Oklahoma Club Highlight: Virago Volleyball Club

We are excited to write this article about an up and coming club in Oklahoma who is making a name for themselves. The Sooner state is full of great athletes, great coaches, and great clubs. This article is focusing on one of those clubs, Virago. We are getting some great information on players from their social media accounts and watching them in person. If you are a college coach or even a prospective athlete, we recommend you follow their players and coaches to get to know them better. Virago’s mission statement is this: "At Virago Volleyball, our mission is to create Viragos both on and off the court- to prepare young women for success in an ever more competitive world. These six words embody everything we do here at Virago Volleyball Club: Courage, Integrity, Character, Independence, Warrior, and Strength." This is powerful stuff to live by. Prep Dig OK had a chance to discuss everything Virago with Club Director Corey Harp to get to know them better and share their story with our readers. Here is a little from our conversation.   Prep Dig OK: I’d like to know your background as a coach/player in volleyball. Tell us a little about yourself. Director Harp: I actually didn’t start playing volleyball until I was 18. I attended the University of Central Oklahoma, and there were a handful of nice sand volleyball courts on campus, with lights. Me and my buddies would flip the lights on and play all night. I really fell in love with the sport instantly. When I moved back to Tulsa, I played in some adult leagues with Janice Roth, who was an assistant coach with Team Tulsa- which was sort of the premier club at the time. She invited me to their indoor practice one day to scrimmage against her club team to prepare them for a tournament. After that practice I asked the coaches if I could continue to come and assist at their practices as a volunteer- which they allowed me to do. I learned a lot just from watching Janice, and the head coach Agnes Romer. The following club season Team Tulsa hired me as an asst coach, and the rest, as they say, is history. I’ve been coaching club and high school volleyball for about 15 years now.   Prep Dig OK: What do you love about your volleyball program the most? Tell me a little about what makes Virago different from other clubs. Director Harp: When I founded Virago Volleyball Club, my number one priority was to try to bring the highest level of coaching at a price that made club accessible to the majority of players. I hesitate to even say this because it’s going to sound cliché, but we really try to be player focused as a club. Whether you’re talking about the 1stplayer on our most competitive team or the 10thplayer on our most recreational team, I want that player to feel like we see them, know them, and care about them. I want them walking away from their club experience feeling confident like they belong and to really feel good about their time with our club and our coaches. I feel like we really have done that. I have a background in business admin with a focus on customer experience and I’ve also tried to make that part of what we do at Virago. I like to say we do the right thing. Not only do we really try to keep our fees at a reasonable level, but we also do things like work with our parents to create custom payment plans and we offer discounts for families that have multiple children playing club because we understand how tough that can be. When the 2019-2020 club season was cut short due to Covid, we offered partial refunds to our parents for the portion of the season they lost and I know a lot of clubs didn’t. I never want a player to not have the opportunity to play due to financial reasons, so we try our best to make sure that doesn’t happen.   Prep Dig OK: What is your coaching philosophy and how do you apply it to your teams? Director Harp: First and foremost, as a coach (and a player for that matter), I’m a passionate guy. Good, bad, and everything in between. I approach the game with passion. I love this game and I hope that my energy and passion for the game rubs off on the players we coach. As far as philosophy, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last 15 years of coaching, it is that the X’s and O’s don’t mean anything if your players don’t come to play. Therefore, I try to create an environment where the players feel confident, where they can be 100% their authentic selves, and really enjoy what they are doing when they step onto the court.   Prep Dig OK: Any other coaches or staff you would like to highlight? Director Harp: I am very blessed to know some really great people, who just happen to be some of the best coaches around as well. Tanna Smith is probably our best known coach, as she is the Jenks varsity head coach. She is a state title winner and has tons of high-level club success. She not only coaches our 14-1 team, but also helps a lot with promoting our club as the Asst Club Director. Derek Jackson, who is currently the head coach at Charles Page High School (Sand Springs) will be leading our 15-1 this year. He’s had consistent success everywhere he’s been, starting in Clinton, and now leading Sand Springs to two of the best seasons in their history. All kids that play under him just get better, period. This year we added two coaches from the Broken Arrow staff in Skylar Jackson and Kirstein Stephenson. Skylar is coming off a season where her Broken Arrow JV team won all 4 tournaments they entered. Kirstein, year after year, pilots the best 8thgrade team on this side of the state. Both of these two will be heading up our 17/18s (Jackson) and 13-1 (Stephenson) this year. Anna Bezhan will be heading our 16-1 this year. She is currently my varsity asst coach at Sapulpa, where she’s helped contribute to our success this year. She’s got a such an extensive background being a “coach’s kid”. She’s played at the top levels since she was a kid all the way through Division 1 at Stetson University. Last but not least, Siera Cherry, another Division 1 player on our staff, will be coaching our 12-1 this season. As an elementary school teacher at Victory Christian School, she’s got the perfect blend of experience for this age group.   Now let’s meet a few of the players that we were introduced to. We are only going to highlight a few in this article and there will be more to come later with the rest of their athletes as they have quite a few that Corey is very excited about. Here is just a sample of a few of them.   [player_tooltip player_id="145965" first="Olivia" last="Dewitt"] [2023] 5-5 Libero (HS: Charles Page/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) Olivia is currently ranked as our 6th best overall prospect and the top libero in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is the libero for Charles Page High School and a great club program at Virago. The super fast defensive stud is phenomenal at reading off-speed shots from her opponents as she keeps her eyes glued to the hitter and not the ball, which helps her stay one step ahead of everyone else. She has no regard for her body as she routinely sprawls out to keep balls alive that are WELL outside of her zone. She covers a lot of ground as she lays out to pancake or dig a stray ball. Her team will always be in the fight if she continues to play defense at that level. The great part is she is only a sophomore and will only get better with age and experience. Stay tuned to see more coverage of Miss Dewitt. Please congratulate her on being named one of the best players in the 2023 class!   [player_tooltip player_id="145974" first="Layla" last="Lenex"] [2023] 6-0 Middle (HS: Charles Page/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) Layla is currently ranked as our 15th best overall prospect in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is a beast middle for Charles Page High School and plays club for the great Virago club. She has great size and great power to hit out of the middle but where she scores a lot of her points is through her court vision. She is able to see the double block in front of her and send an off speed ball to zone four to stifle the defense. Layla also patrols the net well and is able to score well with overpasses for her squad. I like the power at which she swings with during the one and a half tempo sets she receives. She understands her route tree well and wen to move toward the thirty-one zone when the pass is a little out of system for her setter. We are excited to have her in our Prep Dig Family and look forward to watching her junior season. Please help us congratulate her on the honor she just earned.   Stay tuned as we will be profiling these Virago athletes soon in future articles: [player_tooltip player_id="144126" first="Tehya" last="Johnson"] [2022] 5-7 Setter (HS: Charles Page/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) [player_tooltip player_id="144093" first="Ryann" last="Hoey"] [2022] 5-10 Outside (HS: Sapulpa/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) Jessica Thompson [2022] 5-4 Libero (HS: Sapulpa/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) [player_tooltip player_id="156857" first="Tyla" last="Heard"] [2024] 5-11 Right Side (HS: Sapulpa/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) [player_tooltip player_id="156869" first="Kynli" last="Kirkendoll"] [2024] 6-0 Middle/Right Side (HS: Jenks/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) Ashley Thompson [2024] 5-3 Libero (HS: Jenks/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted) Mataya Hall [2025] 5-7 Setter (HS: Sapulpa/Club: Virago/Verbal: Uncommitted)   It was great to catch up with Corey and get some information on his staff, athletes, and his program. From the sound of things, they are a club on the rise and deserve some attention to anyone who is looking for a club that is very affordable with a devoted staff who cares about their athletes and the sport of volleyball. The club is making a name for themselves around the state and we can’t wait to watch them in action. Tryouts are happening now and we suggest you give them a look or two. You won’t be disappointed. We are looking forward to covering them and their athletes in the coming years and also seeing them adding more amazing results on the court. Keep your eye out for Virago!!!   If you feel like you have a school or club that you think we should highlight, feel free to email me at nov8vb@yahoo.com. We would love to come out to your practices/clinics and get more information on your staff/athletes to help with our coverage.