The Jefferson Davis Community College Lady Warhawk volleyball team will be under new leadership when they take the court in the fall as Misti Nims has stepped down from the position as head coach. Current JDCC basketball coach Allen Gainer will take over as the new coach.
“It has been a great 10 years,” Nims said. “But it is now time to slow down and turn my focus on other aspects of my life. I want to thank everyone for all the great memories. I will still be coaching softball and teaching at the college.”
Nims said the decision to step down was a long and hard process that she had been thinking about for a couple of years.
“I kept going back and forth with it but it is now time to slow down and turn my focus on other aspects of my life,” she said. “I have coached both volleyball and softball here at JDCC for 10 years. It is very time consuming to coach two sports in college and also teach a full load. There are many hours spent on the road traveling for games, recruiting, and many late nights preparing and grading for classes. I do not know how I did it for so long with also the commute back and forth to my home in Pensacola. I am ready to narrow my focus on softball and continue to build on what I have accomplished in the past 12 years here at JDCC with our softball program. I would like to wish the volleyball program and the new head coach Allen Gainer the best of luck. He is a hardworking coach, who I know will do a great job with his new endeavor.”
Gainer said he is excited for the new challenge of coaching volleyball.  
“This will be my first time coaching girls and first time coaching volleyball,” he said. “Many of my coaching friends have told me that they get more satisfaction from coaching girls and I’m looking forward to that new opportunity. I believe we all need to be lifelong learners or we begin to stagnate, so having the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a new sport intrigues me. I want to thank athletic director David Jones and president Daniel Bain for showing confidence in me to allow me to lead these young ladies next year.”
Although excited, Gainer said there is a lo of work to be done.
“We have lots of work to do, as so far we only have a firm commitment from one returning player, Liz McCrary, but I’ve been very pleased with her excitement and enthusiasm about next year,” he said. “I think she offers a solid foundation to build proper team spirit and work ethic around, and I’m so glad she has chosen to return.
If we can find more ladies like her, I believe the future of JDCC volleyball will be bright.”