Grace Stewart has stepped down as Heritage Christian Academy volleyball coach after four seasons, two Kentucky Christian Athletic Association state championships, and the 2024 Second Region title.
HCA Athletic Director Matt McGowan said Stewart opted to step down for family reasons as she anticipates the birth of her second child. Her first child was born during HCA’s KCAA state title run of 2022, causing her to miss coaching in the state tournament.
“We are grateful for Coach Stewart’s impact on our volleyball program and the lives of our student-athletes,” McGowan said on Friday. “From her time in a Lady Warrior uniform to her time holding the clipboard as coach, she has been the embodiment of Warrior Athletics.
Stewart is a 2014 graduate of Heritage Christian Academy. She was named KCAA Miss Volleyball in 2013 in helping the Lady Warriors to a state runner-up finish. In her playing career, Waldron was a KCAA All-State selection three times and was named to the All-State Tournament Team three times. HCA won back-to-back state titles in 2010 and 2011.
She took over as head coach from her coach, Eldridge Rogers, in March of 2020. Just two weeks later, the nation went through a COVID shutdown that impacted the HCA team that fall when a quarantine ahead of the postseason saw their run of 16 consecutive KCAA Region 1 titles come to an end.
Stewart was 113-41 as HCA coach and led the Lady Warriors to the 8th District championship and 2nd Region championship in the school’s second full season as a member of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
McGowan said the search for Stewart’s replacement will begin immediately. The next coach will inherit a roster that lost one senior from its 24-6 season in 2024 and has a solid feeder program at the middle school level.
