This story is part of the USMC/AVCA Battles Won Award series. This new award recognizes volleyball players and coaches who are overcoming obstacles, both on and off the court.

Jessica Day, Bryan College Women’s Volleyball Coach

Jessica’s team had finished its 2022 season and they took a break for Thanksgiving. That Thursday, Coach Day received the news that Bryan volleyball player Alivia Mynes and her father were killed in a car accident.

Give us an overview of what happened.
“We had just gotten back from the Opening Round of the 2022 NAIA National Tournament and, with Thanksgiving coming up, we all parted our ways. Alivia was a freshman last year with us and she was so excited to go home and see her family for Thanksgiving.”

“Every Thanksgiving, I send the team a text to tell them how thankful I am for them. Later on that Thursday afternoon I received a text saying, ‘Hey Coach Day, can you give me a call; it’s about Alivia. I immediately called back and it was a family friend of Alivia and they told me that Alivia and her family had been in a car accident and Alivia and her father didn’t make it.’ ”

“I kept saying that I didn’t understand, and she had to repeat to me again because I was in so much shock. I had to make 18 phone calls to each of the players to inform them of the news. When we got back to campus, we had a team meeting and talked about a lot of different things. We had grief counselors and pastors come in and pray over us, and the school put on a really nice memorial for her—the auditorium was full. That surprised me, because Alivia had only been on campus for three months, but she clearly had a far-reaching impact.”

How has that impacted things with the team over the past 11 months?
“It was weird at first. Alivia was our biggest hype man, so not having her present at practice felt different. But we had other girls step up in ways to try to keep some of her great spirit around. We were scheduled to get new uniforms for this season, and I knew that we wanted to keep her memory alive. We put a little remembrance on the back upper part of our jerseys and are using the hashtag ‘Live Like Liv,’ because she always lived life to the fullest.”

Who are some of the people who helped when it was most challenging?
“Our administration has been fantastic, and our president was awesome, always making sure he helped in anything that we needed. He opened his home to the players, and we had a nice team dinner there before the memorial and all walked to the service together.”

“Our vice presidents and AD, and so many colleagues at Bryan were so supportive to us since that time. My husband, who is the associate head baseball coach here at Bryan—so he knows what it’s like to deal with student-athletes on a daily basis—has been there for me all the way.”

“Also, I received so many texts from my friends, family, other coaches from the volleyball community, including former mentors of mine from the AVCA mentorship program who sent their condolences. It really takes a village and every person that reached out, I appreciated it so much because I could feel that they really cared and meant it. If it wasn’t for my support system, I cannot imagine how hard it would have been.”

How have you seen your players grow?
“We have a very tight-knit team to begin with but after this accident I think it made the girls even closer than they were. They hang out with each other a lot off the court, and they show their care for each other a lot more than they would have. They have always cared about each other, but now they go out of their way to show and express their love to each other every day.”

 

 “Jessica and the team leaned on one another and their faith to heal. #LiveLikeLiv became more than a hashtag to them, as Alivia [Mynes] was the life of the party, and Coach Day wanted to make sure her memory lives on within the team. They have used this as daily motivation to cultivate courage and connection and a way to walk stronger in their faith.”
— Jennifer Swafford, Bryan College Director of Athletics

 

Check out stories of other Battles Won Award nominees