Athletic directors have come and gone. Boys and girls basketball coaches have come and gone. More than a hundred of student athletes have walked the stage at graduation, many of which have since earned college degrees and began raising the next generation of ORCS athletes. The logo has been revamped. The gymnasium floors have been replaced. The bleachers have been replaced. The uniforms have gone through a number of redesigns. And the trophy case has gotten much more cluttered.

But there has been one constant at ORCS since 2013: head coach Kara Nunziato and the success of the volleyball program. The Minot native and ORCS alum begins her 13th season leading the team when the Knights open their regular season schedule at home on Thursday, Sept. 4, against Kenmare-Bowbells.

Under Nunziato, the Knights are 412-100-7 with nine district titles, nine region titles and six top-four finishes at the state tournament among their nine appearances. Their best season during that span came in 2016, when ORCS finished 42-3 overall, won both the district and region tournament and finished runners-up at state to LaMoure-Litchville-Marion.

Nunziato’s coaching prowess hasn’t gone unnoticed by her peers, as she has been voted the District 12 coach of the year eight times – seven straight from 2013-19 – Region 6 coach of the year four times and the Class B coach of the year in 2016.

Submitted Photo Nunziato started playing volleyball at Our Redeemer’s in sixth grade and was a member of the 2004 team that advanced to the state tournament for the first time in program history, finishing runners-up. Photo provided by ORCS Activities Director Elizabeth Vibeto.

But Nunziato would be the first person to give credit to both her players and coaching staff over the years for her success and recognition. There has been plenty of talent that has come and gone through the program under Nunziato’s watch. She has coached 39 seniors, seven of which went on to be selected to play in the Optimist All-Star Volleyball Series, a two-match event combining rosters from Class A and Class B in which she has coached in six times. Five of her seniors have been named both District 12 player of the year and Region 6 player of the year. Morgan Strand (formerly Morgan Olson) – a 2017 alum – was also named the Class B Outstanding Athlete.

Nunziato’s successful career in volleyball wasn’t something she probably would have ever predicted when she was a kid, but some good fortune led her down a rewarding path in the sport.

Discovering the sport of volleyball

For some coaches, volleyball runs in the family. Parents, grandparents, siblings and relatives either played the sport growing up or went into the coaching ranks and they ended up following suit. That wasn’t the case in the Nunziato family. Her dad played a lot of sports growing up, including recreational volleyball, but it was never a way of life in the household.

It ended up being her neighbor – the P.E. teacher at Our Redeemer’s – that gave her the courage to sign up for volleyball when she was in the sixth grade. At the time, Sherry Carlson was overseeing the entire volleyball program at the school and became her first coach. She didn’t know what to expect, but she did feel like getting involved in sports would be a good use of her time.

“It really just came from the people my age in my life who were interested in playing volleyball and I did it because they were doing it,” Nunziato said. “I didn’t want to be at home just hanging out by myself. So I joined because everyone else was signing up.”

Nunziato also played basketball, but her love for volleyball was instantaneous. She would play six years at Our Redeemer’s as a setter, joining the varsity team as a freshman and eventually cracking the lineup as a junior in 2004 under the leadership of coach Brooke Storro. That year turned out to be a historic one for the Knights, who reached their first state tournament in program history. ORCS swept its way through the Region 6 tournament, besting Rugby, Berthold and Bottineau en route to a trip to the state tournament. It remains one of Nunziato’s favorite memories in the sport.

“I still remember that regional championship back in 2004,” Nunziato said. “I can still see the last ball and exactly what played out and just the feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh. I can’t believe we really did this.’ And just being really proud of my teammates. We had a really good state run.”

The Knights would go on to place second that year at state, topping Turtle Lake-Mercer and DIckinson Trinity before falling to Thompson in the championship match.

Nunziato finished off her playing career at ORCS the following year, and while it didn’t end with a repeat trip to the state tournament, she still thinks back fondly on her time within the program.

“I grew up at Our Redeemer’s,” Nunziato said. “I went here K-12 and I was playing with people I had known for my whole life. It was a community. We had this goal to go to a state tournament and in 2004 we achieved that goal and it just was a big highlight of my high school years. I was really fortunate to have knowledgeable coaches like Sherry Carlson and Brooke Storro. Those two were my head coaches through high school and they inspired me to pursue the sport even after high school.”

Nunziato continued her playing career in college at Williston State, serving as both a setter and a libero. She played for coaches Johnna Lewis and Jen Bresciani in her two years with the Tetons. Nunziato said she received interest from other schools following her graduation in 2008, but she opted to focus on her academics and attended Minot State, hanging up the volleyball gear after eight years.

But it wouldn’t be long before she picked up the whistle and clipboard and joined the ranks of coaching, thanks to a timely run in with a familiar face and a life-altering phone call.

“A happy accident” opens the door to coaching

Nunziato enrolled at Minot State in the fall of 2008 to continue to pursue a degree in communication disorders and was back in the area the previous spring following her graduation from WIlliston State in May. One day, she was tasked with picking up her younger brother at ORCS and happened to run into Carlson when she was leaving her office. Carlson asked if she was back in town and when Nunziato confirmed she was, Carlson asked for her number and told Nunziato she would give her a call. Much to her surprise, Carlson called asking Nunziato if she would be interested in being her assistant coach for the upcoming 2008 season. Carlson was an assistant coach for the varsity team when Nunziato was a player before leaving after the 2004 season, but she was returning to take over as the head coach beginning that year.

In the back of her mind, Nunziato had given thought of one day coaching, but never knew if it would ever come to fruition.

“I always kind of hoped that would happen, but I did not expect it,” Nunziato said. “It was kind of a gift that landed in my lap. I loved the sport but I wasn’t actively looking. It was just a happy accident to go and pick up my brother in the spring and Sherry leaving the building. I had no idea she was going to ask me to be her assistant coach and it’s just changed the landscape for me from there.”

Nunziato would serve as an assistant coach for the Knights during the two years she was enrolled at Minot State before stepping away in 2010 to pursue her Master’s degree at the University of North Dakota. She’d return in 2012 in what would be Carlson’s final season as head coach, a year in which the Knights returned to state and finished fifth.

With Carlson resigning from her head coaching duties that spring, the athletic department had a decision to make. Two of Carlson’s assistants applied for the job – Nunziato and Brittany Jacobsen. Ultimately the decision was to hire Nunziato for the upcoming season in 2013.

“There were two applicants at the time when Kara came through,” Carlson said. “With Kara, it was that she had been through the system. She kind of knew how we ran things. She was one of my athletes and so she was a really good choice to keep it smooth and not changing a whole lot for the kids. It ended up being a great thing.”

Jacobsen would stay on as an assistant and Carlson did as well. Nunziato learned a lot about coaching from observing Carlson over the years.

“Sherry Carlson has always been someone who has been a student of the game and that was the biggest thing she taught me was that you need to be a student of the game,” Nunziato said. “Your learning can never stop because the game is always progressing and always changing. Sherry Carlson is always someone who puts a lot of time into reading, and reading about the person and about who you are as people and how people work together. I think she really mentored me in how to make decisions, how to communicate decisions and how to coach up skills that weren’t my area and I’ve just hit the ground eager and ready to learn.”

Strand was a freshman when Nunziato took over the coaching reins, but had been on the varsity squad since she was in seventh grade, so she was familiar with her coaching style from the year they worked together in 2012 when she was in eighth grade. She felt hiring Nunziato made for a smooth transition.

“She was always a familiar face in the program,” Strand said. “I actually graduated and grew up with her younger brother Brett, So Kara was always around the program. I remember watching her as a little girl. It was really familiar when she took it over. I do remember being really happy when she took over because she was a familiar face and knew the program really well. She had Sherry as a coach, too, so I knew we would be doing the same things in practice and building from there.”

Her first year was a bit of a rebuilding season after graduating several key contributors, but the Knights still managed a 30-11-3 record, finishing third at both the district and region tournaments. What followed from there was a seven-year run where the Knights dominated Region 6. Before taking over the program, the Knights had won two regional titles dating back to 2002. Nunziato won seven straight regional titles from 2014-20, never dropping a set in the process.

While it didn’t culminate into a state championship, it put ORCS volleyball on the map and created a pipeline within the program that had younger kids looking forward to joining the program when they were old enough.

“I really feel like when I started it was basketball. It took a long time for us to get into the postseason because it started in 1996 and we got into the postseason in 2003,” Carlson said. “Once we got into that postseason they’ve been there every single year. And I feel like winning breeds winning. As they started winning and doing well, once we went to state and Kara was on that first team that went to state, it just got everybody excited all the way down into kindergarten. Winning breeds winning. They commit, they love it, they want to play for her, they want to be part of the program.”

Strand echoed Carlson’s sentiments as someone who has had multiple siblings play for Nunziato over the years and experienced the same level of success that she did up through her graduation in 2017. Tessa Olson was a 2019 graduate and Eden Olson was a 2022 graduate and both of them were named to the all-star teams. Eden Olson was also named District 12 and Region 6 senior athlete of the year. Their cousin, Grace Olson, is a senior on the roster this season.

“A lot of people that attend Our Redeemer’s have big families,” Strand said. “For instance, with my family, I’ve had two younger sisters follow in my footsteps and I think that’s kind of the whole thing is generations look up and see how great this volleyball team is and they want to emulate that and put in the work and the time and the effort because they see how fun it is and how much success we’ve had. It’s a lot of little siblings looking up and a lot of little kids and families attend our games, which is great to bring out those crowds every year, some of the best crowds in the region. It’s a lot of involvement in the younger crowd.”

A true player’s coach

The wins and the trophies and all the accolades Nunziato has amassed over the years are nice to have on the coaching resume, but they aren’t what fills her with the most pride. The awards she has won can’t even be found in her home. Instead, Nunziato said they are somewhere in her childhood bedroom in a memory box.

What really makes Nunziato feel like she’s making a difference is seeing the growth and development of her players as not just athletes but people. When observing an ORCS volleyball game, you’ll never see Nunziato screaming at her players or punishing them for making a mistake. She has a calmer approach, understanding that they are human beings first and athletes second. She wants the game of volleyball to be just that: a game played to have fun and distract them from all the stressors that come with being a teenager in the 21st century.

“One thing that Our Redeemer’s has is a lot of our values comes from the bible and we talk about that and we can lean into that and relate it to our lives and to sports,” Nunziato said. “As far as a successful program, sometimes you can’t measure it in terms of what your season outcomes are but as much as the relationships, connections and the growth within that season. My advice would be how far can you grow and how can you measure growth that isn’t based on how you perform at district, region and state.”

Carlson said Nunziato brings a softness to the team and presents herself in a manner where her players feel comfortable approaching her if they have any questions or concerns both inside and outside the sport of volleyball. And her players over the years took notice of how genuine her care for her team has and continues to be.

“She genuinely cares about us as people,” Strand said. “I remember a lot of different personalities came on to the team and she was pretty proactive. We took personality tests and we tried to figure out the best way to jive with each other both on the court and off the court. She would ask about our personal lives and when we would go to Nebraska we would spend tons of hours in the car. She cared about us off the court for sure.”

That’s not to say she didn’t want her players to perform to the best of their abilities on the court. Which is why she takes the team to some of the more prestigious summer volleyball camps in the region, including those in Nebraska and Minnesota. ORCS is also constantly playing in tournaments during that season that feature teams that eventually end up playing in the state tournament. This season, the Knights will take part in Volley in the Valley, the Valley City Tournament, the Des Lacs-Burlington Invitational and the Langdon Tournament. The Volley in the Valley Tournament features Thompson, who placed fourth at state last year and the Langdon Tournament is hosted by the defending state champion.

“I feel like teams grow confidence by playing competition that is a step above where they presently are at,” Nunziato said. “It gives us an opportunity to highlight where we’re at and where we need to focus our practices. If we want to be the best we have to play in moments that require our best. I like tournaments that are competitive. It’s a great way to get in shape and perform and bring what we learn from tournaments into our regular season matches.”

Nunziato is a student of the game much like Carlson. She takes notice of other teams around the state and enjoys seeing her competition play to learn from them. Whether it’s the strong blocking of Thompson, the serving precision and high-tempo offense of Langdon, the back row talent of Linton-HMB, the unique style of play from May-Port-CG and the relentlessness of former Region foes Des Lacs-Burlington and South Prairie-Max, Nunziato enjoys watching it all.

Nunziato is grateful to have had the opportunity to teach the game she loves to all the athletes that have come through Our Redeemer’s during her tenure, but she is also grateful for the support from the community as well as her assistant coaches, who she believes deserves as much credit for the program’s success, if not more. A plague across youth sports over the past decade or two has been the overzealous parent that inevitably leads to a coach resigning in the offseason or a shortage of officials due to the constant harassment they receive during games. But Nunziato said she doesn’t experience very much of that in her program, and the older she gets, the more she tries to put it all in perspective.

“One thing I’ve been really fortunate to have during my time at Our Redeemer’s is that we’ve really had a supportive parent-athlete community,” Nunziato said. “I’ve heard stories from other programs of what goes on and I’ve been really fortunate. I just think now that I’m older, I have learned to take things less personally and I have to realize that parents are advocating or attempting to advocate for someone they love more than anything. Just going in with an open mind and our philosophy here in our athletic program is we want kids to feel comfortable in leading the conversation. When we have our priorities in line and communication is clear, that often helps keep any issues at bay. That’s not saying they don’t happen, but you can’t take it personally as a coach and have to remember from the point of view of a parent that we have the privilege of coaching athletes during their high school career and these athletes have parents that love them so much.”

As for her assistant coaches, they help to keep Nunziato’s anxiety low, allowing her to focus on certain aspects of her game plans while they help in other areas. From Carlson and Jacobsen at the beginning of her coaching career to her current assistants Annie Folden and Julie Johnson, and everyone in between, Nunziato knows she couldn’t do the job without them.

“Assistants that have the desire to learn the game and a desire to help and a desire to make an impact just makes coaching so fun,” Nunziato said. “We are privileged people to be part of some high schooler’s memories and moments and if we have coaching staff that just thinks of the joy of sports rather than just the winning and the losing, good things happen and I’m so fortunate to have coaching staffs that keep things fun, who are dependable, who jump in and just balance the plate of what a volleyball season looks like.”

For those worried that Nunziato may soon look elsewhere for coaching opportunities or hang up her coaching whistle, rest assured that she is happy where she is and eager to continue leading the Knights. Despite all her success, Nunziato said she has never been approached by other schools or universities inquiring about vacant head coaching positions. As it comes to how long she sees herself coaching, Nunziato said she’ll continue to coach for “as long as it feels right.” For now, she is focused on continuing to maintain ORCS as a competitive program in the state and develop athletes who love the sport.

When she does decide to walk away from coaching, she hopes to be remembered more as someone who enjoyed watching her players develop into the people with the skills to succeed after graduation and being responsible for the fun moments of their high school careers and less for the win-loss record.

“I think my goal is I want the girls to know that they are deeply cared for and we’re very proud of them as people and we’re genuinely excited to see when they inevitably graduate out of our program what they’ll do with their lives and I hope every athlete says that they had a really good high school experience whether it’s from playing time but mostly just because of who they had on the team and the experiences we had together,” Nunziato said.

Life outside of volleyball

Volleyball has played a vital part of Nunziato’s life since she was in sixth grade, but there is more to the Minot native than spending every waking second thinking and being around the sport.

Nunziato is a 2012 Minot State graduate with a degree in communication disorders and earned her masters of science from the University of North Dakota. She holds a second masters in education in autism and applied behavioral analysis and her passions in the field include autism, applied behavioral analysis, speech sound disorders and language disorders in children and adolescents. She is board certified in speech-language pathology through the American Speech-Language Association. Nunziato is licensed through the North Dakota State Board of Examiners in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology as well as the State of North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board. She currently serves as a clinical educator at Minot State, supervising students in clinical practicum at the school’s communication disorders clinic. She also teaches classes in language development and social communication disorders. Her past job experiences include serving as a speech-language pathologist in Glenburn and five years in the same position at Erik Ramstad Middle School. She has been at Minot State since 2019.

“My interest in speech pathology started really early,” Nunziato said. “My brother, who is 10 years younger than me, went to Minot State for speech language services when he was around 3. That was my first experience and then that was a career I looked back into probably around junior or senior year when you start looking at career assessments and then it just kind of was the route I took.”

When she’s not coaching or working, Nunziato finds time to enjoy her hobbies. She likes to crochet, read, spend time with family and browse Netflix. When she has more free time, she likes to spend time at the lake and travel to national forests and parks. She’s done some traveling in the past, with some of her favorite destinations being Hawaii, Florida and Utah, where she visited five of their national parks.

Nunziato admits that it can be challenging at times to create a work-life balance with the demands of coaching and her job. But more importantly, she’s happy with the life she has gotten to live and feels blessed each and every day for the opportunities that have been presented to her. For Nunziato, it doesn’t feel like a job if you love what you do and it makes you feel good about the work you are doing.

“There’s definitely times where I get stuck thinking a lot about volleyball, but it’s just time management that everyone works to balance,” Nunziato said.”Surrounding yourself with a good coaching staff, good resources and never being afraid to ask for help is very important and modeling this for athletes and setting boundaries and preventing burnout. It’s all a balancing act, but it’s some of the most rewarding work and it’s easy to spend the time on things that fill your bucket.”