It was a fun first season for Beal City volleyball coach Kelly David.

A former player, David coached the team to a 44-11-1 record and a spot in the Class D state final, where the Aggies lost 3-0 to perennial power St. Philip Catholic.

It’s nice to coach the team I played for,” she said. “We had a lot of fun. I think it was an advantage. I knew a lot of the girls coming up. I knew their personalities and work ethic.”

One of David’s top players was her sister, senior middle blocker Monica.

It was a great experience,” Monica said. “She was a good coach. I thought she did an awesome job for her first year. She has shown me how to be a great leader out there. I wanted to be like her and make sure I was being positive and stayed positive out there.”

Kelly David enjoyed coaching her sister.

I don’t think everyone looks at us as sisters,” Kelly David said. “We’re sisters at home. And we’re coach and player at practices [and matches.]”

Kelly was a setter while her sister is a hitter. Both were leaders.

We’re both very competitive,” Kelly said. “We play it with heart.”

It was a glorious season for the Aggies. It feels amazing,” Monica David said. “It’s a great feeling that we made it this far. We worked hard this year. This was definitely a team goal. To be quite honest, I wasn’t thinking about this at the beginning of the season. We proved we could make it here.”

For Kelly David, she realized she had plenty of talent at the beginning of the season.

We knew if they played their hearts out and were focused and determined, they could go all the way,” she said. “I told them the first practice that you guys can make it to state. I feel like we knew we were good when we won the St. Louis tournament the middle of the year, we beat a lot of state-ranked opponents. The girls understood that ‘we are pretty good’ and they just never stopped.”

Monica David ended her year with the Aggies on an impressive note.

This was my best year, I came out ready to play every game and made sure I stayed focused and kept my teammates up and was a good leader,” she said.