Serving up freedom: Duty can't slow down Cleveland State volleyball coach

From Local 3 News: For those who know Staff Sergeant Peyton McDaniel, she's always been described as a free spirit. So, her decision to serve in the U.S. Air Force Reserve came as no surprise.

"I was working at Dollywood at the time, and I met an Air Force veteran, and he was a security guard, and he we just kind of started chatting, McDaniel said.

“He was like, well, have you considered this? And I just looked into it, and it kind of checked all my boxes."

At the same time, McDaniel took over the Cleveland State women's volleyball program. After a rough first season, she ramped up her recruiting, building a more competitive squad for 2025.

"She really cares for us as a team. She wants the best for you in volleyball, but she also wants the best for you in life, too, sophomore Jayla Gillespie said.

As McDaniel turned to the fall volleyball season, life behind the scenes was changing fast. In April, she learned her unit would be deployed. to Iraq, for six months.

"It was, uh, it was, I mean, it was gut wrenching for me. And I was like, why now? Like, I finally have somewhere that I look forward to going to work every day, and so, I mean, that was like hard to wrestle with. I always knew it was sort of, there was a chance when I signed the on the dotted line," McDaniel said.

Given the circumstances, it may sound silly to ask, but what about volleyball? For someone who always thinks outside the box, Peyton turned to those closest to her.

"Peyton is my sister, but she's also my best friend, so I think it's really organic and easy for us because we do talk every day, whether she's here or overseas,” Nolan McDaniel, Peyon’s brother and Cleveland State assistant coach, said.

“So, we've really been able to get her integrated. She does all of the film. She does all of the scouting reports. She talks to the girls one-on-one pretty much every day, so I think in that way it's been really organic."

Along with the help of her brother, Peyton’s mother helps too. Serving as a “team mom” by feeding the team and helping do their laundry.

"It's wonderful. I'm an educator. I love to feed kids, so feeding them is so much fun for me and figuring out what they like. So, we've had a ton of fun just doing all of it, going on the trips. It's been great,” Peyton’s mom, Carolyn McDaniel, said.

With their coach thousands of miles away, and a seven-hour time difference, the Lady Cougars started their season with a 12-match win streak.


"She'll just FaceTime us individually, but as a team, we all get on a Google meet, and she will share her screen, and she makes a Google doc about the team we're about to play,” sophomore Isabella Messer said.

“And then she'll go into Hudl, and she'll clip plays that the other team will do. And she'll be like, hey, they run this, they do this. we need to be ready for this at all times."

And though they honor her with their play, they do so with their warm-ups too. By donning camo as a nod to their head coach.

"It means a lot more than it probably looks like it does, because wearing the camo, it feels like she's on the sideline and the bench,” Messer said.

"I think you can almost feel in the gym when the girls turn to do the anthem, there's almost an energy shift in the entire gym for them and for our fans,” Nolan said.

“They've been able to see a little first-hand that there are real people that uproot their entire lives to defend the privileges and rights that we have,” he added.

"Just wearing the camo and just like that reminder of, like, playing for her, like there's something bigger than this,” Gillespie said.

The team’s special tribute did not go unnoticed by their head coach.

"The first time that they came out in the camo, I was borderline emotional. It just it felt like such a special tribute from them,” Peyton said.

Passion, strength, resilience. Just a few words to describe Peyton McDaniel and her Lady Cougars. A program where "serve" means more.


"Sometimes we don't always want to do hard things, but sometimes that's just our role in life, and we just got to get it done and that’s what she’s doing,” Carolyn said.

"It's like you're playing for the girl next to you. And right now, they're playing for the girl next to them and the woman overseas, too,” Nolan added.

"I'm just better at everything because of them. I feel like it's just like heightened. I know that they have high expectations of me, but not unrealistic, but it pushes me to be a better person for them,” Peyton said.

Cleveland State wrapped-up the number one seed in their conference tournament on Tuesday night. The Lady Cougars can earn a regular season conference championship on Thursday when they take Pellissippi State Community College at home at 6:00pm.