Southlake Carroll hired five-time champion volleyball coachbrto lead the Lady Dragons.
Ryan Mitchell will take over the Carroll Lady Dragons afterbrbuilding Lovejoy High School into a state powerhouse, making him one of thebrstate's premier volleyball coaches, according to mysouthlakenews.com.
Lovejoy High School won five consecutive state championshipsbrin Class 3A and 4A over seven seasons under Mitchell's leadership.
Mitchell went 315-41 at Lovejoy and led the program to itsbrfirst state title in 2008, igniting a run of dominance in 3A. Mitchell earnedbrnumerous state and national accolades throughout Lovejoy High School's fourbrconsecutive 3A titles.
In 2008, Mitchell was named Dallas Morning News Coach of the Year and in 2011 he wasbrselected as the NFHS National High School of the Year.
“We are very excited about Coach Mitchell joining the DragonbrFamily and replicating the legacy that he built at Lovejoy ISD in Southlake,” saidbrKevin Ozee, Carroll Athletics Director. “I'd like to thank our interviewbrcommittee, current players, principals, and administration as this hire was abrtrue team effort. We had one of the most talented candidate pools for the headbrvolleyball position that I have ever seen for a coaching search and that is abrcredit to Carroll ISD, our coaches, and our student-athletes' commitment tobrexcellence.”
The Lady Dragons are coming off their first trip to thebrstate tournament in Class 5A. Carroll was a 5A state semifinalist and wentbr48-2.
Following the season, district officials announced that headbrcoach Arthur Stanfield would not return after his five seasons withbrCarroll.
The Dragons made two state tournament appearances in the program'sbrhistory — 1998 and 2003.