Diane Long was absent for the first time in 14 years as a Western Guilford volleyball coach, not knowing if she’d get out of bed or not, not knowing if she would ever coach or teach again, because of an undisclosed condition that put her on medical leave for eight months.

The program’s head coach since 2015, Long had guided the Fightin’ Hornets to a 162-66 overall record through 2023, going 26-1 in 2018 and 13-1 in 2020-21 and making the state playoffs in all nine of those seasons.

In 2024, Long was out from the second week of September through the remainder of the season and didn’t return on staff as a teacher until April, but she was in a part-time role. As recently as mid-July, her return as coach for the 2025 season was still an unknown.

The team finished 6-18 without Long last seas

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