Skylights name Rose Obunaga new head volleyball coach

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights have been in need of a new head volleyball coach and Thursday afternoon, they got one.

While the search process was narrowed down by Northern athletic director Christian Oberquell to two candidates, when it was all said and done, the choice was Rose Obunaga, a former Olympic volleyball player, who has spent the last six seasons as the head coach at Stephens College, an NAIA program in Missouri.

"I was really excited because this was an opportunity that I was looking for," Obunaga said of how she felt when she got the call. "I called the athletic director right after he called me and accepted it."

Obunaga takes over a program that was 6-16 overall a season ago, as well as 5-7 in the Frontier Conference. She said that she is going to get to Havre as soon as possible, but that she would arrive to take charge of the program sometime in July.

"I am going to put my two weeks notice in at my current job right away," Obunaga said. "If they need me, I will stay for that time, if not, I will come as soon as I can. It may not be until near the end of July, but if I can, I want to come earlier."

If playing ability has anything to do with coaching, then it appears that the Skylights have made the right choice, because Obunaga dominated throughout all four years of her collegiate career. At, Missouri State University-West Plains, a junior college, Obunaga was a two-time All-American. She then attended Central Methodist for her junior year and also earned NAIA All-American honors, before being first-team NAIA All-American as a senior at Columbia College.

Yet, the highlight of the resume for Obunaga has to be her two appearances in the Olympics, playing for the Kenyan national team in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. However, as a coach, this won't be her first rodeo. At Stephens College, she has been a head coach in the American Midwest Conference, which is one of the most difficult leagues in the country for volleyball at the NAIA level.

Now, she is ready to put her stamp on the Skylights.

"I think the first thing will be to get the entire team on the same page," Obunaga said. "For you to have a good team, you need to have players that have the same target and that is to win and to be competitive."

Obunaga, who lives in Missouri, said she was excited about her move to Montana, even though she was given fair warning about the cold.

"I am looking forward to it," Obunaga said about living in Havre. "I have been warned about the wind and the cold, but I think I can make it. I will have to load up as much as I can."

For more in-depth coverage on the hiring of Obunaga, see Monday's edition of the Havre Daily News.