St. Paul grad Newcomer has Kirtland in Sweet 16

KIRTLAND — Life has a funny way of working itself out. On Nov. 3, 2010, Arlayna Newcomer was a wide-eyed sophomore at St. Paul High School. She was just trying to figure out how to get on the floor for a perennial Division IV powerhouse program. Newcomer was on the bench, dressed but not yet playing varsity, as the Lady Flyers swept Wellsville in a regional semifinal in Solon. After that match, she then settled in with teammates to watch a little bit of the next match that featured Dalton vs. Kirtland. Now, a decade later, Kirtland is back in the regional semifinals for the first time since that night 10 years ago. And Newcomer is the head coach of the Hornets. "It's so funny and surreal to me," said Newcomer, a 2013 St. Paul graduate. "What are the odds of that? If something had changed that night and Kirtland beat Dalton, then St. Paul could have played them. "It's just such a small world — especially in the volleyball community," she added. "It's fun for me to be able to have that connection, but also when I get to share that kind of story with the girls on our team now. Things like that are what makes it fun." What also makes it fun is the sudden arrival of the Kirtland program under Newcomer, who didn't picture herself as a head coach so soon. After going 18-5 and falling in a district semifinal last season, the Hornets are 17-6 this season. They won their second-ever district championship in a five-game thriller, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to win the rubber match vs. Midfield Cardinal on Oct. 31. Kirtland won the fifth game, 15-11. The Hornets — who start three freshmen — face No. 3-ranked Independence (22-3) in a Division III regional semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Barberton High School. Making the regional trip more rewarding is what the Hornets went through to get there. The program was put in a two-week quarantine after a positive COVID-19 test just 48 hours before the season opener in late August. After two weeks out of the gym, Kirtland took some early bumps. The Hornets played three Div. I programs and were 2-3 after five matches. But after finding a groove, they are 15-3 since. "When we were in the gym early on this summer, we knew at that point we had some pretty high expectations, and rightfully so I thought," Newcomer said. "I was thinking to myself that we had a lot going for us, that we could be something big this year. "But getting shut down when we did was tough on the team, and coming back, the mindset had to be, 'this is something we're privileged to play,'" she added. "We can't take it for granted. It was definitely a rough start, but the resilience the kids showed was really big for us — especially being such a young team." After graduating from St. Paul, Newcomer went to NCAA Div. III Baldwin Wallace University. Perhaps in a sign of things to come as far as being a head coach by the age of 24, she was a three-year captain in four seasons for the Yellow Jackets. At BW, Newcomer was Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference three straight seasons. After her senior season in 2016, she ranked sixth all-time in career digs (1,653) and service aces (124). She graduated in 2017 (marketing and business administration), then stayed an extra year to obtain her Master's in business management. The daughter of Jeff and Janet Newcomer had no plans of coaching volleyball. She started coaching Junior Olympic offseason volleyball in Mentor after college graduation to stay involved in the sport. From there, things just sort of happened. "One of the girls on my team, her parents kept mentioning that Kirtland had an opening and I should go for it," Newcomer said. "At first I kept saying no and kind of laughed it off, but over time, I thought, 'I'll check it out.' I ended up applying for it, and the next thing I knew, I was the head coach." Newcomer works full-time as a senior search marketing specialist at M&T Bank, where she works in paid media with all the big-time companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and Linkedin. She fully admits coaching was something she saw herself doing — several years down the road. "I never thought it would be so soon, no," she said. "It was a big surprise (to coach this early). I don't have kids and haven't settled down in that way. "It's something I was always interested in, and I've admired the coaches and leaders I had growing up … but I felt like coaching was something I could enjoy, not something I saw myself doing right now." Newcomer said she was grateful and fortunate to play for successful coaches in the North Shore JO program locally, Nancy Miller at St. Paul, and Scott Carter at BW. "I admired the way they coached, but also how all of the programs I was apart of were run. The culture is something I felt like impacted my life," she said. "I wanted to be able to be that for my kids, too. My experiences and what I learned in the past are kind of what shaped me. I add my own little spice to it, but everything I had gone through in past programs really helped kind of what has helped mold how I want to run this program here at Kirtland." There were lessons learned all the way around from her roots. "I loved all my North Shore coaches, and even just in high school, Nancy is incredible and there was a lot to learn from her, and (St. Paul assistant) Jen Pelham was another," Newcomer said. "But not even just volleyball. I had Vicki Mahl in basketball as my coach and she was incredible, too. Obviously I'm coaching volleyball but the lessons learned from all of it, basketball included, really made an impact on me." Another thing Newcomer wasn't too sure about was how good the Hornets could be. She saw talent, but did she see a 35-11 record with a league and district championship by Year 2? "I no idea really what I was getting into in terms of our abilities as a team and what to expect in terms of success," Newcomer said. "But I went off what I learned from all my coaches, and I thought I could help a program out — I just didn't know to what capacity. "Once we got in the gym and saw the kids play more and more, I knew we had a lot of talent and could make a lot of progress," she added. "Going into it, I wasn't sure. But after seeing them play for over an extended period of time, I knew we had potential." All that being said, Newcomer knows what her team is up against when it faces Independence on Thursday. The Blue Devils are not only the No. 3-ranked team in the state coaches poll, they are also seeking their fourth straight state semifinal appearance. "We know this team is tough and has some history on their side, and we're expecting the toughest match in our two years here," Newcomer said. "We're not taking it lightly and I have a lot of faith in my girls. I think we've come a long way and we're not done yet. "These kids have a lot of passion and drive and will do anything they can to give their all," she added. "We'll see what the outcome is, but I want these kids to play their hearts out. I know they will. Anything can happen, and l have all the confidence in the world in them."