Lee Avery is the new volleyball coach at Lenoir Community College. Avery was an assistant with the Lancers in 2016 and played the same role as Arendell Parrott Academy won the NCISAA championship in volleyball in 2018. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

DEEP RUN — Lee Avery is going right to work rebuilding the Lenoir Community College volleyball program.

Avery was recently named the Lancers’ head coach and he comes to the school with plenty of experience. He coached at the club level for nine years and led Spring Creek’s 12-9 team in 2017 before taking an assistant coaching role with Arendell Parrott Academy last year as the Patriots won their first state championship.

Avery, who was an assistant at LCC in 2016, said he’s excited to be back with the Lancers.

“It means a lot to coach in the community I grew up in and have followed athletically for so long,” Avery said. “My plan is to bring in as much local talent as I can, as well as outside of the area.”

Avery hasn’t wasted much time, already getting a quartet of commits from the Eastern Carolina 2A — North Lenoir’s Amber Davenport, South Lenoir’s Noelle Corwin and Kenly Hardison and Ayden-Grifton’s Jordan Cannon. South Central’s Courtney Powers and Southwest Onslow’s Haleigh Cook-Watt also plan to suit up for the Lancers, who only have one returning player — Toree Morak.

“One thing I’ve learned about junior college is being able to recruit,” Avery said. “As the freshmen come in, it’s about development and helping them become better players.”

Avery was on hand for Corwin and Hardison’s signing on Friday in Deep Run and both have experience with him over the years due to club ball.

“His knowledge of volleyball has definitely broadened over the past four years I’ve played travel ball,” Corwin said. “I think he’s going to do a good job this season, and him and (LCC athletic director) Shelly Barnes helped make my decision to come here easier.”

Hardison said she hasn’t played for Avery in the past, but is confident in his abilities to coach.

“I’ve known him for a while — he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to volleyball,” Hardison said. “He’s got a lot of experience and I believe he’ll do a great job.”

Avery said he’ll continue to build in the offseason.

“We’ve been able to recruit pretty well so far, and hopefully we can continue to do that, play at least .500 ball this season and stay competitive against some of the bigger teams in our division,” Avery said.