Fierce Competitor: Mindy Stokes, a cancer survivor, has shown Natchitoches Central volleyball how to fight
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
First-year Natchitoches Central volleyball coach Mindy Stokes heard the complaints. Some team members, who were transitioning to Stokes when their head coach left before the start of school, took exception to the severity of the workouts, which often took place on game day.
They believed they were being taxed too much before stepping onto the court to play a match that same evening.
“I told them if you can work out and go play a game, when it’s deep in the season, you’re going to be fine,” Stokes told her team. “These other teams are going to be tired. They complained about it a little, but we still do it.”
Stokes, a standout point guard at Russellville, Ark., and later Arkansas Tech, was trying to apply the same mental fortitude that was part of her athletic journey. When she was 14 and in the eighth grade, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which threatened not only to derail her dreams of playing basketball, but her life.
She practiced at 7:30 in the morning, trying to secure her starting spot, and then made a two-hour drive to the Children’s Hospital in Little Rock for radiation and chemotherapy treatments. On the return trip home to Clarksville, the effects of her treatments would result in vomiting, an ordeal that continued throughout her season.
“My faith helped me a lot,” Stokes said. “I had to rely on that to make it through the day. With the chemo, it was hard to function. Basketball was something that helped me get through the day. It was something I looked forward to.”
Stokes missed one game that season, determined to play the game she loved. Trash cans were strategically placed around the home and away courts in case she felt the sudden urge to throw up. She was also the target of offensive comments about the wigs she wore to conceal her bald head.
“When my hair started growing back, I didn’t wear the wigs anymore,” Stokes said. “I still looked bald from the stands, and there were a couple of teams that made fun of me. It makes you tough in a lot of different ways.”
Stokes was placed in a precarious position when, after a year as a volleyball assistant at Natchitoches Central in 2023, she was able to watch her daughter Bailey Nelee, an outside hitter/defensive specialist/libero, play her final season. She was still around the program last season, but in a lesser role, when she applied for the vacant head coaching job that ultimately went to another candidate.
The Lady Chiefs went through the entire summer with the idea of playing for a new coach who didn’t make it to the start of the 2025 season.
Enter Stokes, other than her foray in the 2023 season, compensated for a lack of volleyball knowledge with a passion for coaching and the ability to draw from her previous experience in athletics, making her an intriguing candidate for the head coaching position on short notice.
“The principal (Micah Coleman) called me about a week before school started and asked if I would still be interested,” Stokes said. “It’s been a whirlwind for sure. It’s been awesome. I really like it.”
The result has been one of the best seasons in the 10-year history of Natchitoches Central’s volleyball program. The Lady Chiefs, the No. 2 team in the Division II power ratings and No. 23 in the VSN/GeauxPreps Volleyball Power 25, are riding an eight-match winning streak, stand 23-2 and own a share of the District 1-II lead with Northwood heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
“After losing all of the seniors (6) last year, this year would be a rebuilding year for us is what some people felt,” Stokes said. “I don’t know if they believed they could do some of the things they’ve done. Now they’re bought in, and I like that.”
Stokes was the point guard on her Russellville High team that reached the Class 4A state championship game in her senior season. She went to Arkansas Tech between 1998-2002 and was part of a team of six players that advanced to the Division II national championship game during her freshman season.
For her efforts, Stokes and the entire team were inducted into Arkansas Tech’s Hall of Fame on Oct. 4.
“That was kind of neat,” she said.
The 1998-99 team was severely hampered by the loss of five players to season-ending knee injuries before Thanksgiving.
Stokes (formerly Lasater) was elevated to a starting role and was both a heady player and sharpshooter from 3-point range. She was also a fierce competitor, adding resolve to the team’s defense.
Arkansas Tech (31-7) entered the Division II South Regional and upset top-seeded Rollins College, 79-64, behind Lasater’s five 3-pointers. She was one of four double-figure scorers with 16 points in a 63-52 win over Fort Valley State, followed by wins over Montana State (68-56) and Northern Kentucky (62-57) to advance to the national championship game.
Arkansas Tech, though, was stopped in the final game by Delta State, 63-59, representing the school’s best performance. Lasater was named the region’s MVP and was also a first-team choice on the All-Gulf South Conference’s postseason team and was part of a program that went 103-28 during her career.
At the time of her graduation, she was a member of the CoSIDA Verizon Academic All-District Team, the Gulf South Conference All-Academic Team, and the Dean’s List. She also held the school’s single-season and career records for 3-pointers made with (98) and (279), respectively.
Stokes moved to Louisiana in 2003 to coach on the staff of head coach James Smith at Northwestern State, serving as a graduate assistant. Two years later, she left for an assistant’s job at Idaho State, which played in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2007. The Lady Bengals, which experienced the nation’s second-best turnaround in Division I in 2004-05, won the conference’s regular season and also twice played in the WNIT.
She went back to her alma mater for one season, helping the Golden Suns to a conference runner-up finish before returning to Northwestern State and joining the staff of head coach Jennifer Graf for two seasons. She coached the team’s guards, recruited, and assisted with everyday operations.
Natchitoches Central enjoyed its fourth straight 20-plus win season in 2024. The Lady Chiefs were 27-9 overall and went undefeated to the District 1-II championship with a 5-0 record.
For the second straight season, the Lady Chiefs faced a familiar roadblock in the Division II state regionals with a 3-1 loss to Kenner Discovery.
There were key graduations, such as senior libero Campbell Morrow, that made the prospect of fielding another viable team to chase another 20-win season, district title, and make a playoff push quite a challenge.
Add another layer with Stokes becoming the team’s head coach before the start of school, and the prospects were murky at best.
“I didn’t have an extensive volleyball background,” Stokes said. “When I got the job, I reached out to people that I knew that really know the game. I’ve learned a lot from them. I went to bed watching YouTube videos on drills. These girls bought in, and they’ve worked extremely hard. I have some really good seniors. It’s been fun.”
Natchitoches Central won its first 12 matches of the season until a loss to University High at the Brusly High tournament. The Lady Chiefs reeled off 34 wins in 35 sets until running into the Lady Cubs (19-1), the No. 8 overall-ranked team.
“I wish we could play that type of team all the time,” Stokes said of University High of Baton Rouge. “You hear people say we haven’t played anybody. I’m trying to change the schedule next year.
“We’re really not that deep, subbing maybe once a game,” Stokes said. “I think our defense is what’s helped us more than our offense. Sometimes it’s (offense) hit or miss, while the defense is scrappy and a testament to how hard they work.”
Stokes has tried creating a culture of accountability through the best means she knows how.
In addition to working out the day of matches, a method that gained additional steam after Natchitoches Central gave way to Byrd in a five-set setback on Sept. 22, Stokes has instituted burpees (squad, plank, push-up, and jumping in a continuous motion) as a reprimand for such misgivings as an opponent’s ball hitting the floor and cursing.
Earlier in the season, there was a workout where the Lady Chiefs racked up 120 burpees, including one from Stokes, before the end of the day.
“I have rules,” she said. “I’m big on discipline and punishment. At the beginning, if we didn’t talk, we did burpees. I told them if we had discipline that it would carry them so much farther. It’s the little things. It’s communication, moving, and talking. If you don’t do the little things, it’s going to catch up with you in the end.”
Although she said her team doesn’t often resemble their counterparts from a size standpoint, Stokes said her team’s become a more cohesive unit with one common goal.
“We’re actually a little scrawny compared to some of the teams we’ve played,” she said.
The Lady Chiefs, 106-22 over the last 3 ½ seasons, have aspirations of becoming the program’s first team to advance beyond the state regionals, which has been a stopping point the previous two seasons.
“We’ve talked about that, and I made them write their goals on the board in the classroom,” Stokes said. “That was one of the goals they had for this year. I don’t know if they believed it at first. I think they really do now. They see they were right there with U-High and Byrd. They realize that now.”
The same determination Stokes implores from her team was the same grit that enabled her to persevere when a trip to the doctor in the fall detected cancer pressing against her esophagus. With her hometown church sending well wishes, a liver biopsy also came up negative, despite an image she saw on the doctor’s screen.
One of her doctors believed her pursuit of basketball may not be in her best interest, while her oncologist, a former basketball player, provided a more favorable account.
“When I asked the doctor about basketball, he said I probably wouldn’t be able to do that,” Stokes said. “Luckily, my oncologist told me I could do whatever I wanted. It worked out. I’m pretty healthy now.”
Stokes said the return of five seniors helped in her transition, giving Natchitoches Central a solid foundation to build around.
Outside hitters Tatum Kay and Ehren Guidroz have been a big part of the team’s offense, and fellow senior middle blocker Brooklyn Smith has been a consistent presence at the net.
Junior Kendall Rhodes has filled in admirably at libero in Morrow’s absence, and the Lady Chiefs have also relied on a pair of setters in junior Maggie Massia and freshman Aubryn Dawson to ignite the team’s offense.
“It’s a neat group of girls,” Stokes said. “They’re just fun to coach. They’ve had some experience, but they don’t have a lot of experience because of the (senior) class before them. They’ve bought in and work extremely hard.”