St. Edward’s volleyball names Kelsey Fox as new head volleyball coach

Coming off its best season in school history, the St. Edward’s High School volleyball team will have a new person leading the program.

Kelsey Fox was officially introduced as the Pirates’ head coach on Monday, Aug. 3, the same day the team held tryouts for the 2026 season.

She takes over a St. Edward’s team that claimed its first-ever regional title and finished as the Class 1A state runner-up in 2025.

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“It’s very exciting, and there’s a lot of talent in the gym,” Fox said. “I saw Monday morning at tryouts lots of great personalities and a lot of room to grow. I definitely think I can see them going back there again and coming out with a win. I definitely see a lot of potential, a lot of room to grow, and it’s an exciting chapter for me for sure.”

Fox enters the role with 17 years of coaching experience, primarily on the club level. She spent five years on the sidelines at Jupiter Christian, serving as a varsity assistant coach and a junior varsity head coach. Additionally, she coached at the middle school level at King’s Academy.

With nearly two decades of experience, Fox describes her coaching philosophy as “fun, but firm.”

“We play volleyball because we love it, first and foremost. And then we hold ourselves to a high standard because there are so many life lessons that can be learned from a team sport like this, especially a team sport where you don’t have contact with the other team,” said Fox, who played collegiately at Palm Beach Atlantic. “It’s really team contact that I think amplifies the connections that you build on the court, and that environment then translates into so many opportunities for growth in your career and life in general. So I am a firm believer that I am developing athletes, but I’m also developing future young women to step into the workplace.”

Fox takes over for Seth Brassard, who compiled a 54-38 record over four seasons at the helm. He was named TCPalm’s Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2025.

TCPalm reached out to both the former head coach and Pirates athletic director Eileen Pliske, with each side offering differing explanations for Brassard’s departure.

Brassard said he was relieved of his duties in May, claiming he wanted to continue as head coach before internal politics intervened.

“There was no aligned decision on the future of the program,” he said. “They told me they wanted to go in a different direction, but they never really gave me a direct answer on why they wanted to go in a different direction.”

Pliske said that Brassard stepped down to dedicate more time to his business.

St. Edward’s’ record stood at 11-10 last October before finishing the season by winning eight of its final 10 matches to finish 19-12. The team fell in the District 8-1A final to the Brevard HEAT before sweeping Orlando Christian Prep in the regional quarterfinals, upsetting top-seeded Geneva in five sets in the semifinals and avenging its district loss to the Firehawks in the regional final.

Later, the Pirates outlasted Harvest Community School in five sets during the state semifinals before losing to top-ranked Boca Raton Christian in the state championship match.

Four players from the 2025 team are gone due to graduation.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: St. Edward’s volleyball names Kelsey Fox as new head volleyball coach