“I learned a lot from Diana (Kramer). I coached with her for four years, four of my most fun years in volleyball.” – Tricia Rosenbeck (Press Pros Feature Photos)
In our continuing series on the people who coach your kids, we devote time to the decade-long volleyball coach at St. Henry, and the annual goal of breaking through one of the state’s toughest paths to a state title. Here’s a look at how Tricia Rosenbeck’s going about it.
St. Henry, OH – There’s hardly a question that Tricia Rosenbeck’s St. Henry Redskins are one of the most athletic, and competitive, high school volleyball programs in OHSAA Division VI.
They have been for a while…despite years of frustration, unable to clear the district or regional round of the OHSAA tournament. And in 2021 and ’23 the Redskins did break through to the State Final Four only to lose in the Finals to New Knoxville in 2021, and Mentor Lake Catholic in the semi-final round of the 2023 tournament.
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Those losses took an emotional toll on a program with a history of state success. The Redskins had previously won titles under coach DeDe Stoner in 1985, ’87 ’90, ’94, and ’95, in 2004 under Lori Schwieterman, and in 2011 under then coach Diana Kramer, who’s now at New Bremen.
Just as relevant, there’s little question that Rosenbeck is one of the area’s best coaches, with St. Henry roots (SHHS class of 2000) she played under Lori Schwieterman before playing at Wright State, then coached as an assistant for Diana Kramer, who likewise, grew up and played volleyball at St. Henry, for DeDe Stoner.
When Kramer stepped down in 2015 to take the coaching position at New Bremen Rosenbeck took the reins of a program with the entrenched high expectations for Redskins volleyball…and none higher than her own.
There have been MAC titles, four of them during Rosenbeck’s ten-year tenure, but conference titles in a league with 150 OHSAA team titles can feel like hors-d’oeuvres when the public anticipation is a four-course meal.
And with expectations come the natural frustrations of fighting your way through the state’s most competitive league in nearly every sport…then fighting your way through it again come district tournament time. For years teams like St. Henry, Marion Local, New Bremen and Fort Recovery have cannibalized each other in the OHSAA’s Northwest District before ever reaching the regional round.
Rosenbeck and the Redskins have mature senior leadership with veterans like libero Morgan Baumer (above).
“She’s a fantastic coach,” says New Bremen’s Kramer, her former mentor at St. Henry. “She knows the game, she cares about her kids, and she’s committed to the school and community.
“And she’s competitive. We’ve been good friends for years, but when we step on the court it’s game on. She’s always ready to play and she has her team ready to play.”
As a testament to that competitiveness, Rosenbeck and the Redskins are 10-3 after last week’s shutout wins over 2024 Division V champion, Coldwater, and Division VI champ, Fort Loramie, There’s mature senior leadership with Molly Wendel, Morgan Baumer, Karlee Buschur, Lexi Buschur, and Olivia Gast. And she has experienced coaches with St. Henry roots, including Kenzie Homan, who won back-to-back championships as the head coach at Versailles in 2017 and ’18.
And she’s quick to credit Kramer for 1) their relationship, and 2) her coaching influence.
“I learned a lot from Diana,” says Rosenbeck. “I coached with her for four years and it was probably four of my most fun years in volleyball. When you’re the assistant coach can be the ‘fun’ one, while the head coach has to be the ‘heavy’. So when she left for New Bremen it was hard for her, and it was hard for me and my family because Eric said to me, ‘I know you’re going to want to be the head coach.’ So I appreciate what she taught me. We’re close, and we text frequently.”
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Like Kramer, and every top program in Ohio, at the half-way point of the season Rosenbeck is looking for that combination of competitiveness and consistency necessary to compete for a league title, first…then the challenge of working through one of the most unpredictable gauntlets in OHSAA sports – that path to the OHSAA volleyball Finals in November.
“We have to be more focused, consistently,” she said last week after an up-and-down straight-set win over defending champion Fort Loramie. In that match the Redskins overcame a huge opening deficit in the first set, then frittered away a commanding early lead in the third set before ultimately winning 29-27.
“Coming out flat is disappointing. But when you find the fight and come back in the final set [to win]…I’m super happy about that.”
“We played two teams (and two state champions)…two ranked teams, and you want to show people who you are. So coming out flat against Loramie was disappointing. However, finding the fight and coming back like we did in the final set…I was super happy with that, when you find a way in three [sets] to finish against a really good team like Fort Loramie.”
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Equally impressive is her ability, perhaps, to prioritize coaching, competing, and consistency with being a parent. Tricia Rosenback and husband Eric are the parents of five boys and one girl – six children – the oldest a freshman at St. Henry, so she never gets a break from coaching the fine points of life, sports, and the consequences, at home or on the court. She’s busy, you might say.
“Eric is a great support system for me, and it’s nice to come home to someone who coaches and can talk about about the matches and give you a different perspective,” she adds.
Eric Rosenbeck is both the principal at St. Henry and the boys head basketball coach.
“He’ll tell me that I should have called a timeout sooner,” she laughs. “And he picks up on strategies and shares advice. Why did you do this, or why didn’t you do that? But he’s so helpful with the kids during the season, and to have another experienced coach to talk when you need that sounding board is wonderful.”
Her competitiveness is Rosenbeck’s business card as a coach. Her personality shows through her gestures and changing expressions with every point. Importantly, she coaches to win and to teach the values of competition, an attribute appreciated in a community where winning values are expected as part of the public school education experience.
“Eric is a great support system…nice to have someone who coaches and can give you a different perspective.”
“I’m competitive, and I want our team to play that way. I think it’s important, and I try to coach that killer instinct to put away opponents. When you have the advantage you have to put your foot down – compete from 0 to 25. You have to instill that in practice and I and my assistants put a lot of time into practice planning. Kenzie and Kylie (Huelsman) help me a ton, and everything in practice is competitive. Everything! We have the talent, but we talk about a ‘dog’ mentality every time someone walks into the gym. And it’s a hard skill to teach because some people are born with it…and I think you can learn it, that it can be trained…but that’s what we try to do at our practices, train to compete for every single point.
“There are times when I have to mind my own competitive nature,” she adds, “…because I know my girls are watching. I try to be a good leader for them because they’re going to act and follow my example. What happens in the locker room is another thing, and I think the girls understand and expect that. You have to be honest, and this team is very good in accepting that, along with constructive criticism. They know that we have really high expectations of them, and each other. And there’s a time when you have to call people out and let them know.
“On the other hand we’re very conscious of the mental aspect of coaching, and mental health awareness is such an important part of coaching today – so different from when I played. As coaches we talk about it a lot…the difference now and what it was like back then because of all the outside influences and social media, it’s important.”
What? That wasn’t ours?…”I’m competitive, and I want our team to play that way. When you have the advantage you put your foot down. You compete from 0 to 25.”
Like many of her colleagues, Rosenbeck is the walking, talking example of the complexities of modern coaching, not the least of which is expectation where past success is displayed and celebrated. A coach who’s the mother of six wears a lot of hats, and wears them well.
“The sun comes up in the morning,” says Rosenbeck. “I swore that I wouldn’t sleep after the New Bremen loss (a highly anticipated challenge lost in four sets), I was that mad over how we played. But I did. I got up at 5 am and did my regular workout routine, because your daily routine is important, too.”
Is this the year? She’d like nothing more than to win that eighth state title, because she…they…can. They’re that good. And, “it would mean so much to the community.”
“We need that one state title and I think the flood gates would open. To prove to the talent that we can do this…how awesome it is to win a state title. Let’s do this again.”
Hence, she harps on consistency and competitiveness – killer instinct. If you don’t have it, you can learn it. She’s sure of it – she walks the walk. The pictures don’t lie – worth a thousand words, and more than words.
Yes…consistency, plus competitiveness, equals titles.
She hopes!
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