Libby Peigen, daughter of Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen, has been named head volleyball coach at Soddy-Daisy, replacing Lorri Johnson.
Peigen had been head middle school and assistant varsity coach at East Hamilton before taking over the Lady Trojans' program. She played volleyball at Ooltewah and Lee University.
The announcement of Peigen's hiring was originally posted on the Soddy-Daisy athletics Twitter account.
“I feel honored to have the job at Soddy-Daisy, the 23-year-old Peigen said Tuesday night.
“I’m really excited.”
Peigen said she applied for the job on Jan. 5 and interviewed shortly after. She was officially hired Monday afternoon.
Peigen has had the urge to follow her mother into the coaching profession for a long time.
“As a sophomore in college I was coaching club ball and that fueled the fire in me to coach after I got out of school,” she said. “I haven’t met with my team yet, but I’m excited to do that.
Johnson was forced to resign in mid-December. She decided to step down rather than fight allegations of improperly reimbursing a volunteer coach for expenses.
Johnson coached high school volleyball for 21 years and won 664 matches, averaging almost 32 wins per season. After taking over at Soddy-Daisy in 2006, Johnson compiled a 317-45 record, routinely playing against some of the best volleyball teams in Tennessee.
This past season Soddy-Daisy defeated three teams that reached the state tourney.
Johnson had 72 victories while coaching at Carson-Newman University and 13 of her former Lad Trojans went on to play college volleyball.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)