St. Mary’s High School has hired Northwestern State associate head volleyball coach Stacey Aldredge to run the Lady Tigers volleyball team, the school announced Wednesday.
Aldredge, who starred as Stacey DiFrancesco in an outstanding playing career at NSU, married local businessman and former NSU All-American football standout Justin Aldredge five years ago. They are parents to a 1-year-old daughter, Finley Jo.
Following her playing career, she has been on the NSU volleyball coaching staff for the last seven years.
A Houston-area native, she came to Natchitoches in 2011 and capped her four-year Lady Demons career with a 2014 Southland Conference Tournament championship, leading NSU to its first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
As a player, Aldredge earned All-Louisiana and All-Southland Conference accolades as an outside hitter and was named the 2011 Southland Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Freshman of the Year. She concluded her career as Northwestern’s leader in kills (1,318) and total attempts (4,683). She also owns the top two seasons in program history in total attempts (1,390 in 2011; 1,244 in 2012).
After graduating with a bachelor of science degree in child and family studies, Aldredge remained involved with volleyball, serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Clemson University and helping begin the program at nearby Natchitoches Central High School in 2016 before joining the staff at Northwestern State and earning her master’s degree in sports administration.
She has been an excellent recruiter under veteran head coach Sean Kiracofe as NSU has remained competitive in Southland Conference competition and notably beat UCLA in front of a record crowd last season at Prather Coliseum. She was a key asset in community relations and fundraising for the Lady Demons.
The opportunity to step away from the intense, time-consuming grind of recruiting Division I athletes apparently combined with the responsibility of motherhood to heighten the appeal to make the move from the college level to SMHS.