Bangs ISD Superintendent Friday morning on KOXE announced the return of Colleen Westfall as head coach of the Bangs Lady Dragons volleyball program.

Westfall previously coached Bangs during the 2012 and 2013 campaigns, leading the Lady Dragons to a 35-20 overall mark in that time. In her first season, the Lady Dragons posted a 14-12 record, finish second in the district and compete in the bi-district round of the playoffs. Westfall’s second season included a 21-8 record, outright district title and bi-district championship as well.

“I had a great time interviewing with Dr. Martin and (athletic director) Coach (Jason) Cole and really loved the way they talked about the program,” Westfall said. “I’m really looking forward to this.”

Westfall departed Bangs for Howard Payne University, where she served as head volleyball coach for nine years before stepping away from coaching.

“God opened the door and got me completely out of coaching, which was a surprise to me, but I guess He knew I need to hit the reset button,” Westfall said. “I’ve learned within this year I haven’t been in coaching, a lot of self growth and then He opened up the door to Bangs.”

A Wimberley High School graduate and two-time state champion in volleyball, Westfall graduated from Howard Payne with a Bachelors of Science degree in 2008. After she started her college career playing volleyball at NCAA Division II Midwestern State University volleyball team, she transferred to HPU in 2006 and was a member of the Lady Jackets basketball team that went to the second round of the NCAA national tournament.

Tamara Minshew served as interim head coach for the Lady Dragons this past season, as Cheyanne Lovelady left to take the same position at Brownwood shortly before the season started.

“Tamara Minshew did an amazing job filling in, but we wanted to make sure we did a thorough search for our next coach,” Martin said. “There was a short list of candidates that I personally reached out to to make sure we got the right person. We found what we consider a home run hire and someone who has some experience with Bangs and the area. Our girls group is really talented, we have a lot of good athletes, and we wanted to make sure we found the right person and Coach Westfall has college experience, she’s player and coached there, and done high school, and she understands kids. She has experience running our program and knows how to build it.”

The Lady Dragons posted a 15-14 record in 2023, placed third in district and were bi-district finalists.