Lewis-Palmer girls volleyball coach Don Lash gets 600th win

MONUMENT – Don Lash was hoping he could get through the girls volleyball season without the spotlight that he knew would come with a significant coaching milestone.

But keeping a lid on 600 wins turns out to be no easy task.

The Rangers swept Thomas Jefferson to open regional play and within minutes of match point being scored, Lash was showered with hugs, applause and even cupcakes.

“It was supposed to be a secret,” Lash said. “Apparently some people can’t keep secrets.”

This was a secret worth not keeping. Lash first started coaching at L-P in 1985. It’s nearly impossible to walk the halls around the gym and not accidentally bump into a regional championship plaque or state championship trophy that bears his name. According to the CHSAA record book, Lash is just the third coach in state history to eclipse 800 wins. Over the span of his 38 years as a head coach, that’s an average of 15 wins per year.

Like Sue Snyder to Simla or Sally Moos to Cherry Creek, Lash’s legacy is tied Lewis-Palmer’s past as it has established the foundation for what happens in the future.

“If you look at everyone that has been a part of the program [since Lash started coaching], it has been home grown,” former coach Susan Odenbaugh said. “When Wade [Baxter] took over, he was my assistant. When Alexa [Strube] came on, she had played in the program. It’s like I had talked about, everyone wants to instill the principles of success that Don had established.”

By his count, Lash has retired from coaching about 10 times. But he seems to find his way back to the sport.

“There were a few years where he wasn’t coaching and he was just lost,” Odenbaugh said.

Lash had no intentions of taking over as head coach of the Rangers when joined Strube’s staff when she returned to the school as head coach. Coming into the 2024 season, Strube had some family issues that required enough attention that serving as the head coach of a high school volleyball team was proving to be difficult. She jokingly asked Lash if he’d be interested in changing chairs and he didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“There was no one else I would hand this off to, especially given the situation,” Strube said. “He’s such a servant leader and the day I had the conversation with him and jointly said ‘Hey, do you want to switch places,’ he said ‘Yes. I would do that for you.'”

The post-match celebration was a big reminder of how much Lash means to the L-P volleyball community. He was surrounded by former players and assistant coaches from his initial run with the Rangers. When current principal Bridget O’Connor, a former player of Lash’s, addressed the home crowd to recognize the accomplishment, the first thing she mentioned was his indifference to wins and losses. He only wanted to teach his players how to be better volleyball players and better human beings.

Championships just naturally find a way of gravitating toward those with that mindset. Lash has been no different.

But he’s happy that the weight of getting to 600 is gone. He’s more concerned about 601 and getting his girls back to the Denver Coliseum.

“It’s good to have it over and out of the way,” Lash said. “Now we can get to the good stuff.”