KEARNEY - After four seasons, Kearney volleyball coach Jason Owens has decided to step away from volleyball.

Owens made the decision last summer after becoming engaged in July. He's going to move to Grand Island, but still teach in Kearney. However, he felt the longer commute would make coaching volleyball difficult.

"I came to the realization that I was going in a new direction in my life," Owens said. "I wanted more time to spend with my future bride."

"."I've been of the philosophy of if I want my kids to come in and do things during the summer, I need to be there for it."

The Bearcats went 20-14 this past season, and were 67-63 under Owens. Kearney reached the district final the last two years, but was unable to make it to state. Regardless, Owens was proud of what his teams accomplished.

"I think we had a great run. Our school is very competitive in volleyball across the state, and we were just a win or two shy of the state tournament a couple years there," Owens said.

Next year will be the first time Owens won't coach volleyball in nearly 15 years.

"It's been a major part of my life. Now, I'm going in a totally different direction. It will be weird that's for sure," Owens said.

Before coming to Kearney, Owens coached two years at Greeley where he won a state championship in 1996. He then coached seven years at Platteview and led the Trojans to state in 2000.

Owens replaced Megan Gangwish, who stepped down after also coaching four years at Kearney.

email to:

seth.blank@kearneyhub.com