They met just once as opposing head coaches in 1980. And despite having never competing against each other on a volleyball court again, the mutual respect between Karen Biehle and Linda Lampkin has carried on for decades.
Lampkin has been the head coach of the Hermann girls volleyball team for 38 years. With 909 victories, she’s won more matches than any other coach in state history. Lampkin was selected in 2011 to the inaugural class of the Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Biehle was in Tampa, Fla., last week competing in the International Senior Softball Association championship when she received a call from Festus High principal Diana Allen.
Allen informed Biehle that she will be inducted into this year’s hall of fame class with four other coaches next month in Columbia.
Biehle took the call from Allen as her softball teammates, some of whom she’s competed with for 20 years, listened to the conversation. Biehle said she had no idea before that moment she’d even been nominated by her pal, Lampkin. Even her son, Kirk Biehle, had held onto the secret.
“Kirk said, ‘Yeah, Mom, I knew, but I couldn’t tell you about it,’” Biehle said Sunday. “I’m very honored because it’s a selection by my peers I’ve competed against and we all respect each other in our profession.”
Lampkin was the president of Missouri Volleyball Coaches Association in 1989-90 and Biehle succeeded her. Biehle started the all-state banquet for volleyball in the early 1990s. Lampkin said she was at the hall of fame banquet last year watching the new class be presented when she thought, ‘Why isn’t Karen Biehle in the hall of fame?’
“So I sat down to do something about it,” Lampkin said. “She’s a really hard worker and has been involved in the coaches’ association.”
About the only thing Lampkin remembers about the Bearcats’ only match against the Tigers is that her team lost.
“I don’t remember the scores but I was excited we had scored seven or eight points against them,” said Lampkin, who has led the Bearcats to 12 state championships, the most of any team in the state.
“She has done so much and now she’s back to coaching again. I have felt for a number of years she should be in the hall of fame,” Lampkin said.
Biehle retired as head coach at Festus in 2000. Before returning in 2016 to revive the fortunes of the Tigers, she’d already turned in a hall of fame career with 552 wins (.783 winning percentage), 22 conference titles and three trips to the final four. In 2015, Biehle was inducted into the R-6 Hall of Fame. Since her return, Festus has a record of 35-28-4.
“There was an opening so I came back and applied and they gave me the job,” Biehle said. “We’re trying to put Festus back in contention. Year by year we’re getting stronger.”
During the high school offseason, Biehle has been coaching the Festus Fire, a 10-and-under girls club team.
“I want to give back to the sport of volleyball,” she said. “I want these young ladies to enjoy the sport and become good people and players in the future.”
That’s exactly the type of coach the three-person hall of fame board of directors is looking for when it comes time to decide who gets in and who doesn’t.
Dave MacLean is the president of the MHSVCA. Each year, MacLean and two other board members receive a list of names from three coaches whose job is to compile the candidates. A vote is taken by the three members and a simple majority is needed to get in.
There are six criteria to be inducted into the hall of fame: a coach must have 300 wins; has made a significant impact on high school volleyball; is a member of the MHSVCA while coaching; has made contributions to volleyball outside of the regular season; must be a high school coach for at least 15 years; and at least half of those years coaching must have been for schools in Missouri.
“The No. 1 criteria for me, is they’re a role model for young coaches,” MacLean said. “The world of volleyball is changing so much. High school volleyball has a connection with community, education, teaching and the laws of learning. We love volleyball and think it is the greatest sport ever participated in but there’s a value to being involved in the community.
“She’s worked with volleyball players in the Special Olympics. This is evidence of her character. It’s about the love of the game and people; it’s not about her.”
Biehle is one five members of this year’s class. Terry Funderburk (Pattonville), Jeff Gabbert (Vianney), Tammy Miller (Logan Rogersville) and Greg Nenninger (Leopold) are the other new members. There were 19 members before this year’s class, which MacLean said is large.
Like Lampkin, Biehle has stayed in the community where she’s built a career because of her strong ties to the area. Both coaches said they reached that height because of the support they’ve received from school administrators, families of the players and the community at large.
“We have a lot of respect for each other,” Biehle said.