NISH volleyball off to a great start under Babin

Published 1:00 am Friday, September 16, 2022

The New Iberia Senior High School volleyball team has had a phenomenal start to the 2022 season, picking up a 5-1 record under the leadership of head coach Ty Babin.

Babin, who spent 4 seasons as assistant coach at Delcambre before spending another 3 with the Yellow Jackets, is enjoying his first season in charge of the NISH team.

NISH, who went 18-16 last season, has been dominant this year, defeating almost all of their opponents in just 3 sets.

On Tuesday, the Yellow Jackets hosted Delcambre in their home opener.

Despite winning in 3 sets once again, Babin said that his team still has a lot to improve on.

“(Our performance) could be better,” he said after the win. “We have a lot of moving parts and our second middle went out so we’ve been trying different rotations. It’s a lot of trying different things to find what is going to work. It’s still early in the season, so we’re still trying to find out what fits and what is the best option that I have.”

The team might still be working to find its best players to put on the court, but the ones who made it there against Delcambre showed that NISH won’t be a pushover this season.

“We wanted to get the girls to play to their level,” Babin said. “We were really working on our side of the court and what we are doing individually and as a group.”

One of the top performers against the Lady Panthers was senior middle Laila Sigure. With 14 kills, 3 aces, and 2 blocks, Sigure dominated the court and led the team by example. Babin said that Sigure has only had one game where she struggled, but is enjoying the challenge to always be the best player on the court.

“She’s had one game where, I wouldn’t say that she was intimidated, but she met somebody who was her equal and I felt like she played down in that game,” Babin explained. “Since then, I’ve challenged her to be the best on the court in each game. I think tonight, she showed who she is.”

Senior setter Yahaira Mora (3 aces, 1 kill, 23 assists, 2 digs), senior outside Zoriahn Davis (4 aces, 7 kills, 3 digs) and junior defensive specialist Ja’Mia Tardy (5 aces, 7 digs) also contributed to the win.

With a new coach comes a new set of expectations, and so far, the Yellow Jackets have risen to the challenge. Babin described his coaching style as being focused on accountability and doing the basics well.

“My coaching style is more about holding the team accountable.,” he said. “I don’t want to be the one calling plays and telling them where to go or what to do. They should know what to do by this time, I want them to hold themselves and each other accountable. In the past, it’s always been the coach that’s had to lead the team. I want the team to lead and for me to just facilitate and fix the small things that need to be worked on.”

As for how he will define success in his first season, Babin said he just wants to leave the team “better than I found it.”

“Last year we had about a 50% record, so we’re hoping to be better this term, but I also want the girls to leave this program better, not just as athletes, but as individuals. I took the job because of my four seniors, they didn’t have a coach and nobody applied for the job, so I didn’t want to leave them without anybody.”

Babin’s appointment to head coach has been a long time coming, but despite his hopes of making a move out of the classroom, the first-year head coach said that he has no intention of leaving his team until he has to.

“I’m not sure (how long I’ll stay as head coach), everything is up in the air,” he said. “I’m looking forward to becoming an administrator, so I’m not sure how that works doing both, but until the time comes where I have to give it up, I’ll be on the sideline and working hard to get the girls where they need to be.”

The Yellow Jackets defeated Church Point in 4 sets on Wednesday and North Vermilion in 3 sets on Thursday. NISH will return to action on Tuesday when they host Division II opponent Carencro at 5 p.m.