Volleyball | 09/26/2017

Idaho head volleyball coach Debbie Buchanan's life has come full circle.
 
As the longest-tenured coach in Idaho athletics history, Buchanan has watched the game – and her life– change over the years.
 
She started her collegiate coaching career as an assistant for the Vandals in 1996. The St. Marie's, Idaho native, took the opportunity to return to the area after graduating from the University of Southern California.
 
When Vandal Hall of Fame head coach Tom Hilbert left Idaho for Colorado State, Buchanan followed, only to return to Moscow in 2000 as the head coach.
 
In her first year as a head coach, the NCAA changed collegiate volleyball from the side-out scoring system to the current system. Games used to go to 15 points, and points could only be earned by the serving team. If the non-serving team won a rally, they had right to serve, but no points were awarded.
 
Over her coaching tenancy the Vandals have been members in three different conferences. Her first four seasons were spent in the Big West.  
 
"We knew it was going to be a big jump for us," she said.
 
In 2005 the Vandals shifted conferences and became members of the Western Athletic Conference.
 
"The WAC was a good conference until all the restructuring with football," she explained.
 
The end result was nine teams in nine states. The amount of travel was grueling.
 
"There weren't a lot of common opponents where you could have these great rivalries," she added.
 
The Vandals again changed conferences in 2014, landing in the Big Sky.
 
"It's been a really good conference for our program. The Big Sky is a good volleyball conference and doesn't get the credit that it deserves.
 
Buchanan, who holds an education degree from USC, emphasizes teaching as a coach.
 
"We teach," she said. "We are constantly teaching."
 
18 seasons on the job and Coach Buchanan still feels the same support from the university – an atypical experience for most volleyball coaches, she said.
 
"I have been fortunate to be the coach here at Idaho for the past 18 years. I love our community, our college atmosphere and the fact that we get support from our administration. Dr. Spear meets with most of our recruits and attends most of our matches. That support doesn't happen at most universites."
 
Buchanan's life has evolved alongside college volleyball. When she arrived at Idaho, Buchanan was newly married to her husband, Buck.
 
"We knew we wanted to start a family. Little did I know, I actually was pregnant my first year coaching," she said. "I couldn't figure out why I was so tired."
 
Her oldest son Austin was born just before the start of her second season at Idaho.
 
"I took a few days off and I was back because we started the season at the beginning of August," she said. "My family has been intermixed in this job.
 
"We wanted to raise our kids around family," she said. "The years have just kind of flown by. I love the fact that I'm in a college town, my kids are safe, they can ride their bikes places and I'm not worried based on this community."
 
Buchanan said she is lucky to have landed in a place like Moscow, where she can be a mom and have a career.
 
"Some of these bigger cities you really have to sacrifice things," she said. "Here I can get to work in five minutes, I can get to the high school and the middle school if I need to. There are things that being in a small community allow you to do everything you want."
 
Buchanan became Idaho's all-time winningest volleyball coach in 2011, passing Coach Hilbert. She has accumulated 262 career wins, approaching almost 100 more than Hilbert's 174. Her teams have made the conference postseason each of the last 12 seasons, finishing above .500 in conference play 12 of the last 13 years.
 
The Silver and Gold sit 2-0 in conference play for the first time since Buchanan's inaugural season at the helm, following a pair of sweeps against Montana State and Montana. The strong start to the Big Sky season has Idaho tied atop the Big Sky North Division with North Dakota and Eastern Washington.
 
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on Twitter and Instagram, @IdahoVolleyball.
 
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals.