The Dowagiac sports scene became a little clearer this week as the school board approved the hiring of new coaches for volleyball and girls’ basketball.

New Athletic Director Scott Lawler, on the job only about a month now, found the replacements for Ryan Frontczak and Dick O’Day.

He made the appointments on Monday night at the board meeting and the two were approved and hired.

Bill Anderson is replacing Frontczak as the volleyball coach (see related story this page).

He is a Niles graduate who has coached at both the collegiate and high school levels, as well as club.

Anderson is confident that he can take the Dowagiac program to the next level.

He will be trying to build a program from the bottom up so that the players are learning all the same techniques and as they move up the ladder, they are ready to play at the varsity level when their time comes.

Among the places Anderson coached is Notre Dame.

He has been successful every place he has coached, and I see no reason why that will change at Dowagiac.

Frontczak set a new school record for victories two years ago and so the foundation has been set.

With every new coach the expectations are raised, and I see no reason why those expectations can’t be met.

Anderson seems like a no-nonsense guy to me, who can get the job done.

I wish him luck.

A familiar face will take over the girls’ basketball program.

Emily McLoughlin moves up from the junior varsity squad to replace O’Day, who spent two years at the helm of the Dowagiac program.

McLoughlin inherits a program that loses four-year Wolverine All-Conference selection Torie Lowe, who leaves the program as the second leading scorer for either girls or boys.

She will have several returning starters, who with the addition of some of the younger players can provide a solid team.

McLoughlin will have to find a way to get points from those players in order for the Chieftains to be competitive in the ultra-strong Wolverine Conference.

With volleyball and basketball taken care of, Lawler can now turn his full attention to finding a new wrestling coach to replace John Green, who was not retained, and a new baseball coach to replace the resigned Bryan Henry.

Those appointments should be coming in the near future.

For now, let’s welcome our new coaches and wish them the best in the upcoming seasons.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com or by phone: 687-7702.