Published: August 31, 2009 11:30 pm      

Grenadier sister show

Siblings join forces on sidelines for IU-Southeast

When Lesley Drury-Prather was hired as the Indiana University Southeast head volleyball coach earlier this year, she did not have to look far for a qualified assistant coach.

Drury-Prather called her younger sister and best friend, Sarah Drury-Petkovic, to see if she wanted to be a member of the Grenadier coaching staff.

Without hesitation, Drury-Petkovic said yes.

“She’s got so much knowledge and experience with the game,” Drury-Prather said about her sister. “She’s perfect for the job. We have a blast coaching together.”

This year is the first time both women have coached alongside each other after being teammates on the volleyball squads at both Pleasure Ridge Park High School in Louisville and the University of Louisville.

Drury-Petkovic, 28, says the sisters have never discussed coaching together until her older sibling called about the IU Southeast post.

“I don’t know if we ever thought about it,” said Drury-Petkovic, who is 1 1/2 years younger than Drury-Prather, 29. “We never talked about it. It just kind of happened.”

The sisters have been tight-knit ever since they were youngsters. Along with being teammates on the volleyball squad at PRP, they also were teammates on the girls’ basketball and girls’ track teams at the school.

The siblings were teammates at U of L from 1999-2001 and currently they work together as real estate agents at Mayer Realtors in Louisville.

Drury-Petkovic says about the only time the sisters have been apart is when she was a member of the United States national volleyball team from 2003-07.

“There is not a lot of time that we have spent apart,” Drury-Petkovic said. “I think we’re very open with each other. (Their relationship) never gets tense because we are honest with each other.”

Drury-Prather has enjoyed coaching alongside her sister this season.

“It’s been great,” she said. “We feed off each other. We’re like a tag team on the sidelines. We’ll jump up and say the same thing to different girls.”

In their playing days, Drury-Petkovic said there was never a sibling rivalry with her sister on the floor because they played different positions. At U of L, Drury-Petkovic was a defensive specialist, while Drury-Prather was a middle blocker.

“There was never any tension in any of the sports we played,” the younger sibling said.

Drury-Prather agrees that there was no competition between her and sister on the court. But when they worked out together, it was a different story.

“In the weight room, we were neck-and-neck when we lifted weights,” Drury-Prather said. “In conditioning, we were trying to run a faster speed than the other. It made us better players.”

Both sisters say that playing alongside each other at U of L was the fondest moment of their college careers.

“My biggest moment was playing with Lesley. We had a blast,” Drury-Petkovic said.

Now, both sisters are trying to produce more great moments at IU Southeast.

The Grenadiers have a 3-2 overall record entering tonight’s home match with Lindsey Wilson.

They also are 1-0 in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with their main goals being to capture the conference regular-season and tournament championships and earn a spot in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship. Another goal for IUS is to finish undefeated in KIAC play.

“I definitely think it is possible,” Drury-Prather said about going unbeaten in the conference. “We’re off to a good start, and I see definite improvement coming our way. We definitely want to win the conference regular-season (title) and win the conference tournament. Going to nationals is our main goal.”

Both sisters are trying to instill what they learned as standouts at U of L into their current players.

Each were former All-Conference USA and All-Midwest Region players at U of L. During both of their collegiate careers, they both helped lead the Cardinals to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. In addition, Drury-Petkovic was an alternate on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team.

“I’m definitely trying to implement everything I’ve learned throughout my career,” Drury-Petkovic said. “Mostly, I’m working on defense and passing.”

Drury-Prather is trying to implement a couple of things into her troops.

“Definitely, I want them to be a student first. You are a student-athlete, not an athlete-student,” she said. “Also, I’m trying to teach them to just want it more and have the will to win. I think that was one of things that was lacking with this team.”



LESLEY DRURY-PRATHER

• AGE: 29

• POSITION AT IUS: Head volleyball coach

• YEARS PLAYING AT U OF L: 1998-2001

• PLAYING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Former two-time all-Conference USA player; helped Cardinals reach the NCAA tournament four times and the Sweet 16 twice; helped U of L win the Conference USA tournament title in 1998 and 2000; named to the Athletic Director’s and C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.



SARAH DRURY-PETKOVIC

• AGE: 28

• POSITION AT IUS: Assistant volleyball coach

• YEARS PLAYING AT U OF L: 1999-2002

• PLAYING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Former all-Conference USA player; helped U of L reach the NCAA tournament in each of her four seasons; member of the United States National Team from 2003-07 and the Pan American Cup Team from 2003-06; helped the U.S. National Team earn a gold medal in the 2005 NORCECA Continental Championship; was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team in 2004.