Reunited duo coaching in Twin

Kendall Bradley Keltz and Alexis Sandru, two former high school volleyball stars from Twin Bridges, remain reunited as the head and assistant coaches for their alma mater.ca

Their journey from teammates to college athletes and now coaches started with some great play back in high school.

During Keltz’s run as a Falcon student athlete, her teams made four state appearances.

When Keltz graduated from Twin Bridges after an all-state career, she continued to play at the college level, just down the road for the University of Montana Western, where Keltz earned a degree in elementary education. 

This landed Keltz a teaching job in Missoula, where she continued “to share her love of volleyball with club teams,” according to a school newsletter article from 2021. 

“Eventually she and her husband, Ryan, found their way back to the valley and they couldn’t be happier to be raising their three daughters in this amazing community. She is now back where she started and is teaching 4th grade at Twin Bridges Elementary,” reported the article. 

Asst. Coach Sandru was an all-state player and hit for Twin Bridges from 2000-2002 (spring and fall seasons). In 2000, with Coach Keltz, and Sandru helped earn a second place finish at state in the fall of 2002. 

Sandru played college volleyball at MSU-Billings and received a degree in English before heading to law school at the University of Montana. 

“She now works as an attorney for the Montana Legislature,” reported the newsletter article, “and is extremely grateful to be back in the community raising her three children and tending to her small herd of dairy goats and chickens with her husband Luke.”

As for her reunion through coaching with Sandru, Coach Keltz told The Madisonian, “It’s kind of fun to be back on the court together, albeit in a completely different role for sure.”

“This is my fourth year as the head coach here in Twin,” continued Keltz. “I had never coached before this. It was kind of one of those things that I was asked to do, and I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did. It’s kind of fun to be full circle.

The duo inherited the TB volleyball program after a challenging season, in which the Falcons won only three games. 

“When Alexis and I took it over, we knew we had our work cut out for us. That first year we ended up breaking .500. We did alright for a team that didn't even make it to the district tournament the year before,” Keltz explained. Their hard work paid off, as the following year they returned to the state tournament, where TB won one game, marking a significant improvement.

Then came last season, when Keltz and Sandru saw Twin take fourth place in the state tournament.

This season, with a nice 3-0 win over Sheridan and a 3-2 victory over Whitehall to build upon, Keltz said the young Falcon team (there are no seniors) will continue to grow and mature. 

“A lot of people are calling it a rebuilding year. But I think we're going to be alright. We just need to stay focused and keep doing our jobs, and we're going to be OK,” insisted Keltz. “We're going to compete, and I'm looking forward to it.”

Keltz and Sandru are working with 19 players, the largest group Keltz has coached. 

“We did pull up those eighth graders. We thought we needed to make sure we get these younger girls playing more. Without bringing the eighth graders up, it was going to be hard to be able to put a JV team on the court consistently,” she explained. 

The coaches are also scheduling C team games to provide more playing opportunities for younger athletes. 

Looking back on the pre-season, Keltz said the summer program included a unique twist, as the team wrapped up training with a pool volleyball match, complete with ice cream. 

“We actually rented the pool out in Sheridan,” said Keltz. “We had a blast.”