Johnson now top Tiger at New London

NEW LONDON — The task of replacing a probable Hall of Fame coach always contains land mines. The fan base is never as patient when losing a legendary coach and that is what the New London volleyball program lost when Maureen Heath left the Tigers for rival West Burlington.

Heath has a 960-272 career record over 37 years with stops at Burlington and Notre Dame before the last 22 years at New London, where her record was 716-188 with eight trips to the state tournament. Burlington’s only state tournament trip was under Heath in 1995. She is the third-winningest high school volleyball coach in Iowa history.

Lindsey Johnson was Heath’s assistant for the Tigers and steps up into the head coach role for 2021.

“I’m sure she will do just great,” Heath said of her replacement. “She’s a hard worker and very dedicated and very knowledgeable. She knows how to compete at a high level.”

New London starts the 2021 season as the third-ranked team in Class 1A. West Burlington is eighth in 3A.

“I feel honored that (the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union) think(s) we are worthy of a No. 3 ranking in Class 1A right off the gate this year,” Johnson said. “However, preseason rankings are just a number. It doesn't mean anything unless we go out there and prove ourselves. Right now, we are continuing to work hard in the gym with the goal of doing just that.”

The Tigers proved themselves last year with a trip to the state tournament, a 22-8 record and a tie for the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South division championship with, ironically, West Burlington.

Although Johnson has coached at all levels of volleyball from middle school up to 18U club teams, last year was her first time experiencing what it is like to be on the state tournament courts.

“It was truly unforgettable,” Johnson said. “We had some great competition in this area in class 1A last year, and were incredibly lucky to have an opportunity to advance to state.”

Fellow SEISC South Division rival Notre Dame won the tournament.

Johnson graduated from Cedar Rapids Prairie High School and continued to play volleyball as a setter at both Southeastern Community College then at Iowa Wesleyan University. She added playing time and got some experience at defensive specialist and libero her senior year of college.

Johnson works and lives in Burlington, where she is a Special Education Consultant out of Great Prairie Area Education Agency.

She first coached volleyball as a senior in high school with a club team. While she continued with club teams, she was also an assistant after college for Amber Taeger at Burlington High School. She was Heath’s assistant for the past two seasons.

Johnson has taken in a lot of knowledge from being on the floor and stalking the sidelines.

“Coach Heath taught me a lot about scouting other teams and exploiting their weaknesses,” Johnson said. “She taught me how to come up with a game plan for each match.”

Her biggest influence for staying with volleyball is her high school coach, Kevin Geary. Geary coached at Prairie from 2000-13 and is currently an assistant coach at Kirkwood Community College. He coached at New London from 1986 to 1997.

“He taught me every piece of fundamental basics about volleyball and continues to support me to this day,” Johnson said. “He is the sole reason that I had the opportunity to go on and play in college. Without his influence, I'm confident that I wouldn't have followed this path.”

Heath said the ranking is nice for her former team and wished the Tigers and Johnson “all the luck in the world except for when they play us. I don’t wish them any luck then and I’m sure Lindsey would say the same thing.”