Net income: New Cameron volleyball coach striving for turnaround

Nathan Martell, Cameron University’s new volleyball coach, knows the formula.

For the past six years, he has helped guide a college volleyball rebuild as an assistant coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo. The ThunderWolves went from a 9-44 record across 2017-18 to a 39-18 run during the past two years.

The next stop for the Minnesota native? Cameron University, where he was hired as head coach for the 2023 season. And aside from the hot Oklahoma summers, Martell said he feels this job is similar to his prior destination where he found success.

“It’s very much the same approach for me as what we did at CSU-Pueblo,” Martell said. “I was an assistant there but I was part of the process as far as how we changed the culture and everything there. It’s very much the same approach. It’s getting kids in that fit my coaching style that are going to do what I want to do and help implement the vision that I have for the program.”

The Cameron Aggies are coming off a 5-26 season where they went 0-16 in the Lone Star Conference. When Martell coaches his first game at Cameron, the Aggies will have a chance to snap a 22-game losing streak.

Though Martell has only had since January to instill his culture, junior pin hitter Jacee Stelter has seen the team start to transform.

“I think the respect level has improved so much,” Stelter said. “We have so much respect for coach. He has so much respect for us. All around the respect level has improved so much. We know the strategy, we know the gameplan. We know what to do on the court, what to do off the court. Culture is really big with coach, all around. Not only on the court but outside of volleyball as well.”

Martell said he strives to be a good communicator as a coach. In his eyes, developing leaders and problem solvers on his roster is the way to transform a team.

“I try to be very collaborative with my players as far as back-and-forth dialogue,” Martell said. “Explaining what I want to see from them and them having some input as well. Because at our level, these girls know what they’re doing…My players understand the game, so it’s making them part of the process.”

It is a coaching style that has resonated with the Aggies.

“It’s been a drastic change (since Martell took over),” junior outside hitter McKenzie Tysor said. “Skill wise, information wise. I feel like the team has just grasped it all and it’s taught us to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I feel that it’s been a journey but it’s been a good one.”

Martell said the Lone Star Conference is comparable to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, CSU-Pueblo’s home. Both leagues have talented teams and games where having a mental edge over the opponent is critical.

“I think the best teams are ones where the head coach does their job in the gym during practice and then may be able to be quieter in the game because this is your chance to take over and show what you’re capable of,” Martell said.

Stelter said she sees her teammates every day, and they try to hang out as much off the court as possible. Players sign in with Martell and have routine conversations with him. Maybe it’s about which player they plan to serve in the next game, and sometimes the conversations are about life.

“For Cameron volleyball I feel like it’s really hard in the past to have a coach that knows the sport,” Tysor said. “Someone who knows what they’re talking about, but also cares about you off the court. (Martell) will ask us how we’re doing. I feel like it’s bigger than volleyball. That’s what Cameron needs. A coach that cares about us on and off the court.”