When newly appointed BGSU volleyball head coach Alex DelPiombo was searching for assistant coaches, she was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of worthy candidates ready to take on the role.
Among those applicants were Chelsi Carter and Alexa Wharton. Chelsi was an easy choice, as DelPiombo had coached her while she was playing libero at Samford. But hiring Wharton was a little bit different.
“At the time, it was kind of a secret, but I was aware that I was pregnant and that […] I was due right before the season, so that second assistant, my first thought was that I need somebody with good experience,” said DelPiombo, “I need somebody that’s gonna have a lot of maturity.”
Experience and maturity are things that Wharton has in abundance. As a player, she led Heidelberg to three Ohio Athletic Conference titles. As an assistant coach and recruiter at Memphis, she helped the Tigers to the best start in program history in 2019.
And during her time as head coach at Tiffin, her hometown, she led the Dragons to two conference tournament appearances, posting an overall record of 31-28 over two seasons.
“When I saw Alexis’ application, it stood out for those reasons,” DelPiombo said, “A lot of people thought highly of her. She’d been a part of programs that were winning, and that’s huge.”
The coaching experience has been a journey for Wharton, but one she would not trade for anything. It’s a path that has intersected with Bowling Green multiple times before she joined DelPiombo’s staff.
“BG volleyball was the first college, I think the first college athletic event I ever went to,” reminisced Wharton, “I came back and watched Susie Norris when she played here [BG], she was from Hopewell, and we kind of grew up watching her.”
Wharton also coached at the University of Green Bay when the Phoenix faced the Falcons in the NIVC tournament, where she had her first interaction with DelPiombo, and she’s been following the program ever since she was a kid.
Since being hired to coach at Bowling Green, Wharton has remained in her hometown of Tiffin, a 45-minute drive to work every day. Wharton shrugged off the drive as no big deal, but Carter thought it revealed a lot about Wharton’s character.
“Even with that drive, Alexa is never late,” stated Carter, “She beats everyone here every single day with that drive. She’s the first one probably in Stroh every single day. It shows just a lot of commitment. It shows a lot of discipline. It shows a lot of heart. I think those are the things the players don’t know or see, but I think like someone that is consistent, I have a lot of respect for.”
And that commitment is not just shown through her commute to the Stroh Center, but also through her coaching. Junior setter Amanda Otten confirms that you can see the commitment that Wharton brings every day.
“You can definitely tell that she’s [Wharton] invested in this program, and even though she has a daughter, Emma, she has shown us that we’re also a priority, and being able to know that we can rely on her, I think, is the biggest thing, cause she is there every single day and she’s there early,” said Otten, “She’s someone who’s very reliable, she’s very consistent and I think that builds trust among all of us.”
When each interviewee was asked about what they thought Wharton brought to the team more than anything, each person had a different answer. The starting setter believes that it is Wharton’s experience as a head coach that brings newfound knowledge and perspective to the team.
“She’s almost like a quieter kind of coach, but when she speaks up, like we really listen to her,” says Otten, “She’s someone that we know she knows what she’s talking about and someone we can trust.”
DelPiombo thinks what Wharton brings the most is split between what she brings to the team behind the scenes and what she brings on the sidelines.
“I think that behind the scenes, amongst our staff, specifically, she’s really good at keeping a level head. She’s really good at looking at different perspectives and kind of making sure that we’ve thought through decisions and opinions on a whole basis,” said DelPiombo. “On the court, she’s really good at giving the players what they need. Do they need a hug, or do they need kind of a kick, and she’s really good at holding that standard and balancing us as a staff.”
When Carter was asked about what Wharton brought to the squad, she kept it simple.
“I think consistency. Which I know that sounds silly or whatever, but being the same every single day regardless of what’s going on in your life, like you gotta think we’re still humans, but consistent every day and how she coaches, how she’s presenting herself.”
But who better to answer this question than Wharton herself, and after hearing the responses from others, her response is true but humble, and highlights how much she’s learned during her coaching journey.
“I think I bring a lot of experience from a lot of different places and so, when we get into an area where something new, or maybe we’re unsure about a decision I think I can give really good insight into like, ‘well, this has worked before’ or ‘we need to look out for this’ so kind of navigating the uncharted waters I think I be pretty good at,” remarked Wharton, “We’re good as a unit because we listen to each other really well I think and take in a lot of ideas and I think we are really open to learning.”
