By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Longtime Silver Lake volleyball coach Sarah Johnson doesn't sit around counting victories.
Silver Lake volleyball coach Sarah Johnson watches her Eagles during last Thursday's quadrangular at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
If she did, Johnson probably wouldn't consistently put together one of the state's toughest schedules for her Class 3A Eagles.
"I talk to the girls about that,'' Johnson said. "We've got to get uncomfortable so we're comfortable in uncomfortable situations in game time.''
Throughout her tenure at Silver Lake, the only head coaching job she's ever held, Johnson has loaded up with Class 6A, 5A and 4A opponents, figuring those tests will help get the Eagles ready for crunch time.
"I love playing these high caliber girls and great coaches and schools,'' Johnson said after Silver Lake faced reigning 5A state champion Seaman, former 6A champ Manhattan and former 5A champ Shawnee Heights last Thursday at Seaman.
"It gets us in those crummy situations and we've got to figure it out early in the season so we know how to handle it come sub-state, state time.''
It's an approach that's made Johnson one of the state's most successful coaches and the Eagles one of the state's most successful programs over her 17-year tenure.
Despite the perennially challenging schedule, Johnson surpassed the 500-win career milestone with last Tuesday night’s home Big East League sweep of Jefferson West and Hiawatha while Silver Lake has won 3A championships in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018 during her tenure while making nine state appearances.
And being ready for postseason has always been more of priority for Johnson than having a glossy regular-season record.
"I feel like we're shifting with KSHSAA with how we're setting up postseason,'' Johnson said. "We're changing things this year. We're taking baby steps to hopefully get to a better postseason format but until then give me all the losses you can. I don't care because it's going to make us a better team and we're going to be able to finish strong at the end of the season.''
Coaching is in Johnson's blood, with her mother, Mary Pat Weese, a Kansas coaching legend who posted 755 wins at Bennington, Salina Sacred Heart and Salina South, including the 1977 state title at Bennington and a pair of championships at Sacred Heart in 1979 and 2000.
Sarah, who played on her mom's state title team in 2000, began her high school coaching career as the junior varsity coach for Jen Womack at Topeka High for two seasons before Johnson landed the Silver Lake job in 2008.
The Eagles struggled to a 10-25 record in her first season but Johnson, now 501-164 in her career, hasn’t had a season with less than 25 wins since then, including nine 30-win seasons and a best record of 42-3 in 2015.
Silver Lake volleyball coach Sarah Johnson talks to her team during last Thursday's Seaman quadrangular. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And while she doesn't get hung up on milestones, Johnson admitted that reaching 500 was a biggie.
"At first, when people were talking about it, I didn't want to talke about it, I didn't want to put the attention on me,'' Johnson said. "But it was such a nice moment because I had a lot of time to kind of reminisce on all these fantastic young ladies that have stepped foot in the Silver Lake gym that I've had the privilege of coaching and the memories we've made and the tough matches we've won and the tough matches we've lost.
"I just went down memory lane a bit and it was fun.''
And after 17 years in Silver Lake, Johnson can't fathom coaching anywhere else.
"I can't even imagine it,'' she said. "I felt at home the second I watched the girls that first summer I got hired. I'm watching them outside weights and they're flipping tires, pushing and flipping tires around.
"They're just hard-working girls and I love the size of a 3A. They're doing all the sports, which I'm a big advocate of, and I've never even thought about being anywhere else.''
