They’re each constructive volleyball coaches with a brain for the game and a love for the kids who show up, put in hard work and become competitors on the other side. For 14 years, Angie Williams served as Bonneville High’s head girls volleyball coach with her husband, Kirt, in tow.

Today, six years after Angie made a career shift to Ben Lomond, she finds herself on the opposite bench of her longtime assistant-turned-head coach. Two years in as the Lakers’ boys coach, Kirt officially added the girls head coaching title earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the Lakers swept the Scots in three sets for their first win of the season.

“It’s super fun,” Kirt Williams, who, with his wife, moved to Ogden from Idaho Falls in 2000, said.

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“We both spent 14 years at Bonneville before moving over here to Ben Lomond. I love my time (at BL). I had an opportunity to go back to Bonneville and help these kids, so that was super exciting for me. They kind of had a rotation of coaches for the past six years since we left, and it just felt like the time to go back and help these kids win.”

Indeed, the coaching carousel hit Bonneville hard. Former head coaches Erin Glover, Dan Peters and Kolbi Trimble went a combined 31-86 since Angie Williams stepped away in 2020.

The chance, Kirt said, to rebuild his wife’s former team became available ahead of the 2026-27 school year, and he filed the paperwork to apply for the position. Kirt is the owner and operator of Williams Transportation Inc., serving the greater Ogden area.

“He was a little scared to tell me, but I was like, ‘It’s okay, this is your opportunity,” Angela Williams said. “I do love (Bonneville), and I’m thankful they have the opportunity to go out there and succeed, too.”

Opening the evening with a 4-3 lead and Lakers’ timeout, BL opened the first set with a bite from its senior-led roster, including two aces by senior Angelica Collatz. Fellow seniors Elli Heydon, Avenley Murrah and Maddie Sparks are all back, too, to lead the Scots this season.

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Bonneville, led by returning senior captains Ava Heiner and Juno McGough, rose to a 25-9 victory in that first set, and tacked on two more dominant sets (25-10, 25-13) in the team’s first win of the regular season after dropping its season opener at Ogden 3-0 last week.

“They’ve been through a lot with a revolving door of coaches,” Kirt Williams said. “Stability will be big for the program, and for them, but their talent and their leadership really set us in a good spot to be able to change the program.”

It’s only mid-August, but Angie knows her season is already on different ground.

Varsity sports at Ben Lomond, which enrolled upwards of 1,300 students last year, are tricky given the socioeconomic challenges within the area. The 2025-26 school year saw the BL community grapple with a bomb threat and a nearby fatal shooting that left one teenage boy dead all within the a week.

Volleyball, though, has been a link for Angie Williams, who became the BL program’s head coach beginning in 2020. The team hasn’t produced a winning season in that stretch, and this year’s 11-player Scots roster is looking at another uphill climb in 3A.

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While many Utah high schools may enjoy rosters bolstered by year-round club ball, that’s not the case at BL, Angie Williams said. In 2024, the average American family spent $1,000 or more on youth sports, according to a recent report by CBS News New York.

“They don’t have the opportunity to go play club seasons and things like that, so we’re getting them here, and I’m so extremely proud of them and where they’re at,” Angela Williams said. “They battled, and I saw a lot of good things. We’re doing better than where we started as far as being able to apply the skills.”

Last year, BL won a single match through 24 attempts. Before wins, though, Angie hopes to build a space where coachability can simply begin.

“They need to know they have adults that believe in them,” Angela Williams said. “A lot of these kids don’t have that) structure, so we have to get them to trust us, and then we can start to teach them the skills… It’s trust; that’s the first thing we really had to establish here.”

Hanging up a win on Tuesday, Kirt certainly penciled one in for his wife, too. Where he is the more raring of the two on the court, Kirt commends his wife for the patience displayed week by week working with her program.

“It’s just giving the kids a good experience and teaching them how to love this game and appreciate what’s going on,” Kirt Williams said. “(Angie)’s a great mentor for me, and we just the kids and it’s all about them. Helping them out, just being a positive influence for them… She’s probably way more patient than I am, but we both just love the kids.”

Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.