Inductees

He enjoyed a coaching career that many only dream of, with banners on display in the high school gym, a trophy case out in the school lobby and a lifetime of memories.

And yet Mike Tyree will tell you that it wasn’t about him in his tenure as the volleyball coach at St. Francis Borgia Regional High School. Instead, the credit, he said, goes to the Lady Knights themselves.

“They do whatever is necessary to be successful,” Tyree once said. “I guess that’s something that perpetuates the program. There are a lot of schools around the state who have that type of tradition where those kids will do whatever is necessary.”

Still, his work guiding the Lady Knights certainly is well-respected, and that is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Tyree with the Class of 2019.

In coaching 22 seasons at Borgia, a private school in Washington, Tyree’s teams were 646-133-20 (1987-2006, 2010-2011). They reached 15 Final Fours, advancing to the state finals 14 times, and won nine state championships in Class 3. Those titles cover the years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2000 and 2004.

Along the way, Tyree’s teams were state runners-up five times, placed third once and won 20 district championships.

This from a coach who planted the seeds to the success. You see, he started at the lowest level, coaching Borgia’s grade school volleyball team and attending coaching clinics hosted by the United States Volleyball Association. But he took it a step further.

Because the gym was available only twice a week – and only for an hour each of those days – Tyree called for early morning practices.

“I asked about 6 a.m. Nobody was in there at that time. So I told the girls that we were going from 5:30-7:30 a.m. four days a week, take it or leave it,” Tyree said. “Those kids – Mindy Struckhoff, Gwen Sullentrup, Ann Monzyk and Laura Lanwehrmeyer – all did what was necessary. That started it. They realized they wanted to win, too. You can’t win in an hour. The parents sacrificed, too. They got up and brought their kids to practice every morning at 5:30 a.m.”

After four years, Tyree got a teaching job at the high school and served as the volleyball team’s assistant coach for four years, including on its 1982 team that placed second, before he was promoted to head coach in 1987.

The 1987 state title team finished 29-2-1, giving Borgia athletics its first state championship in school history. It also started a run of four consecutive state titles – a stretch in which Borgia was 124-9-1. That stretch included a 73-match winning streak and an 80-match unbeaten string that began in 1988.

“Once you get that momentum going, the kids just want to work hard,” Tyree said. “They would go to camps and clinics. There wasn’t a lot of USVBA when we started. There was a whole lot of running the streets, getting into shape. They didn’t play year-round like they do today.”

The 1992 team finished 30-5-3, while the 1993 team raged to a 33-3 record. The 1995 team, despite a number of newcomers on varsity, finished 27-6-2 to win the state title, doing so despite losing the first set of the state championship match, 15-4, to Salem.

The Lady Knights won it all again in 2000, when they finished 30-7, and Tyree’s last state title came in 2004 as Borgia compiled a 34-4-3 record.

The state runner-up finishes came in 1991, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2010.

One of his best teams was in 1996, when Borgia went 31-0 before suffering a loss in the district championship to eventual state champion Salem. It was the only time any of Tyree’s teams didn’t win a district title.

“I’ve been on the other side to where we probably shouldn’t have won, but we came through,” Tyree said. “I understand that you’re going to have good days and bad days. Fortunately, I’ve had a lot more good days than bad days.”

What a run it’s been for Tyree, a 1970 graduate of Union High School and 1976 graduate of Southeast Missouri State. He long had the support of his wife, Charlotte, and their children, Dana, Kim and Aaron. Dana and Kim were setters in the 1990s.

Said Tyree, “I will look back at my time at Borgia and cherish the many memories that I have experienced and the friendships I have been so blessed to have made.”