Lacing Up for a New Era
How the Cottey College Comets Found the Right Fit
When Coach Sarah Wall arrived in Nevada, Missouri to take over the Cottey College Comets women’s volleyball program, she came with a resume that speaks for itself and a simple belief that the details matter — right down to what her players wear on their feet when they travel.
Those details led her to brownsshoefitco.com, to a team discount, and to a partnership that is a perfect example of what Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. means when it says Local Anywhere.
A Coach Who Knows How to Build Programs
Cottey College made waves in January 2026 when it announced the hiring of Sarah Wall as the new head coach of Comets Volleyball. The reaction around the region was immediate — and warranted.
Wall brings more than three decades of coaching experience to Nevada, Missouri. She spent over 20 years as a high school head coach at Webb City and Carl Junction High School in Missouri, accumulating nearly 400 career wins. At Carl Junction alone, she led her teams to six district championships, a Class 3 state runner-up finish in 2013 — the first state championship appearance in school history — and a remarkable 36-0 run through the Big 8 Conference over five seasons. She was named Big 8 Coach of the Year six times and has been inducted into the Carl Junction Athletics Hall of Fame twice.
From there, Wall moved to the collegiate level, serving as assistant volleyball coach at Pittsburg State University before taking her first collegiate head coaching position at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO). In just three seasons at NEO, she compiled a 62-41 record, earned two Region 2 Coach of the Year honors, and guided the program to a Region 2 Championship. Her 2024 squad finished 33-8, set more than 10 school records, and produced the program’s first First-Team All-American.
“Sarah Wall and winning are synonymous.”
— Dr. Maryann Mitts, Director of Athletics, Cottey College
That track record is now on full display in Nevada, Missouri. For more on Coach Wall and the Cottey Comets program, visit cotteycomets.com.
A Strong Start:
3-2 and Built to Win
The 2026 season is already delivering. Coach Wall’s Comets opened the year on the road with a commanding 3-1 victory at Ozark Christian on August 26 — a statement win that announced this program means business under new leadership.
This past weekend, the Comets stepped into the Manhattan Christian Tournament in Manhattan, Kansas and went toe-to-toe with some of the toughest non-conference competition on their schedule. Early-season tournaments at the college level are designed to challenge rosters in ways that regular season play simply cannot — and the Comets came away with invaluable experience that will pay dividends all year long. Coach Wall has built programs from the ground up before, and she knows that the teams who do the hard work in August are the ones making noise in November.
At 3-2 overall, the Comets are right where a program with this coaching pedigree needs to be — battle-tested, hungry, and with plenty of season left to make their mark. Next up is a home match on September 2 against Bethany (KS), followed by the Haskell Tournament in Lawrence, Kansas on September 4 — which, as it happens, is right in Evan Toms’ backyard. Expect the Comets to be ready.
Keep up with every result at cotteycomets.com.
You Don’t Have to Be Related to Be Part of the Local Loop
Here is where our story finds its Brown’s connection — and it is one worth telling.
Evan Toms works at Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. in Lawrence, Kansas. He has been on that sales floor for two years, learning the brands, fitting customers, and understanding the difference between a shoe that looks good in a catalog and one that actually performs when an athlete needs it most. His sister, Lily Toms, is an incoming freshman at Cottey College this fall — a new Comet stepping into a program that is very much under construction in all the best ways.
When Coach Wall began putting together the program’s needs for the upcoming season — including travel footwear for the roster — Evan recognized the opportunity. He did what good team members do: he passed it up the chain. Evan brought the inquiry to Mark Toms, Brown’s eCommerce Manager and the architect of the Local Anywhere platform.
Mark is the person who built brownsshoefitco.com into what it is today — a single destination where any customer, team, or organization across the country can access the same quality and service they would receive walking through the front door of any one of Brown’s 73 stores. When Evan brought Coach Wall’s need to him, Mark was able to work directly with the Cottey program to put together a team order at a fair price, processed through the platform he built specifically for moments like this one.
A sales floor employee in Lawrence spots the need. He brings it to the eCommerce Manager. The eCommerce Manager delivers through the platform. A volleyball program in southwest Missouri gets outfitted for the season.
That is Local Anywhere working exactly as designed.
What Local Anywhere Actually Means
Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. operates 73 store locations under one shared mission: to deliver local service anywhere in the country through brownsshoefitco.com. The Local Anywhere initiative is the infrastructure behind that promise.
When Coach Wall placed the Comets’ team order online, the transaction did not disappear into a faceless fulfillment center. It routed through a system designed to keep local stores invested in every sale — whether that sale happens in person or through a screen. The 73 stores that make up the Brown’s network each have a stake in the success of brownsshoefitco.com. That accountability is built into the model.
For a women’s volleyball program at a small private college in southwest Missouri, that kind of reach matters. Nevada, Missouri is not a major market. But through Local Anywhere, Coach Wall did not need to be in a major market to access quality footwear at a fair price. She needed a team discount, the right brands for athletic travel, and people who understood what her players actually needed.
She found all three.
The Right Shoe for the Road
Volleyball athletes are on their feet for extended stretches — practices, matches, travel days, and the long hours in between. Travel footwear carries its own set of demands that differ from court shoes entirely. Bus trips, airports, hotel lobbies, and warm-up floors all require something durable, supportive, and comfortable enough to keep athletes fresh before they compete.
Brown’s carries the brands built for exactly these demands: Brooks, HOKA, New Balance, On, Saucony, and more. Each has a distinct performance profile, and matching the right shoe to the right use case is something Brown’s team members are trained to do. Between Evan’s two years on the Lawrence sales floor and Mark’s deep knowledge of the product catalog, Coach Wall was not navigating that conversation alone. She had a team.
The Comets placed their order at a fair group price through brownsshoefitco.com. We will leave the on-court results to the players — but the travel days? Those feet are covered.
Local Service, Delivered Anywhere
The story of Coach Sarah Wall and the Cottey College Comets is not a story about insiders getting preferential treatment. It is a story about how a network of 73 stores and one well-built eCommerce platform can show up for a program in a small Missouri town the same way it shows up for a customer walking through a front door in Lawrence, Kansas.
A store employee noticed an opportunity. He passed it to the right person. The right person made it happen. And a first-year head coach was able to check team footwear off her list and get back to building a program.
You do not have to be related to anyone at Brown’s to be part of our local loop. You just have to know that we are here — and that Local Anywhere means exactly what it says.
Congratulations to Coach Wall and the Comets on a 3-2 start. The season is just getting started.
Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. offers team and group pricing through brownsshoefitco.com. For inquiries about team orders, contact onlinesales@brownsshoefitco.com or call 515-328-6444.
Local Anywhere Starts With You
Stories like the Comets’ happen because someone on a Brown’s sales floor is paying attention to the community around them — whether that community is a neighbor, a team, or a school two states away. If your team, business, or organization could use the same kind of personal attention and a fair group price, reach out to any of our 73 locations or visit brownsshoefitco.com to get started. Local Anywhere means we are already closer than you think.
