New and different opportunities are often fleeting. When they arise, it’s often best to take advantage of them.
Liz Nicolai had to go through that thought process this summer, when she left Eau Claire Regis to move south on Keith Street in favor of coaching volleyball at Eau Claire Memorial High School.
Though it’s a move from Division 4 at Regis to Division 1 at Memorial, Nicolai welcomes the challenge.
“Coaching in D1 is just a different beast knowing you’d have the ability to make an impact with more athletes and bigger numbers,” Nicolai said. “I think that was something that I was really excited for.”
Nicolai brings an excellent pedigree to Memorial.
She brings over a 66-37 record from her time at Regis, where she led the Ramblers to the 2024 Western Cloverbelt Conference Championship and consecutive WIAA Division 4 state tournament runner-up finishes in 2024 and 2025.
Following her arrival at Memorial, Nicolai was encouraged to see similar championship-like attributes in the Old Abes.
“They’re great girls. I’m so impressed by them. They’re just great athletes. They’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of potential,” Nicolai said. “The level of dedication, commitment and drive is just as strong in this group as it was in teams that I’ve coached in the past.”
Hunger will only get the Old Abes so far. Memorial finished seventh in the Big Rivers Conference last season and 19-20 overall.
Nicolai knows progress won’t come overnight, but her team’s dedication to the process will surely help them.
“We’ll have strong teams at all levels,” Nicolai said. “We’ve got things we want to work on and things that we want to get better with. But, the best thing about it, and the thing that we keep telling them is that we’ve got time.”
Nicolai will look to lean on upperclassmen like seniors Marlee Ferguson, Grace Gerber, Ella Staupe, Aubri Christianson and Sam Maassen-Deprey, while adding in fresh faces like sophomore Addison Schroeder.
“I think we’ve got a great group that’ll be in the gym helping us make strides in that direction and to keep pushing for that overall goal,” Nicolai said. “Success isn’t going to be defined by an appearance at (the state) tournament knowing that Division 1 is the cream of the crop.
“We’ll be setting step-by-step goals for ourselves knowing that’s of course the overall end result that we always want to see. And, I’m optimistic towards that goal.”
Nicolai said her goal is to be competitive in her first season in the Big Rivers Conference, which begins with a visit to Menomonie on Sept. 4.
She’ll return back to Regis on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“Personally, (it) is going to be an interesting match for myself,” Nicolai said. “But, I think that’ll always be a good one too. That crosstown match just gives a lot of good energy.”
Rivalry matches against Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire North excite Nicolai too, while matchups against top-level division foes Hudson and River Falls will be showcases for a feisty and chaotic Old Abes team.
“I’m looking to make a run, be frustrating to teams, be this new force to be reckoned with, be a little bit unpredictable and kind of reinvent ourselves,” Nicolai said.
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