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Provo High School girls volleyball coach Wendy Bills watches her team during the Provo High School girls volleyball match against Orem High School on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. After more than 30 years at Provo High, Coach Bills is retiring. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

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Provo's Wendy Bills talks to players during the volleyball game between Mountain View and Provo on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 at Mountain View High School in Orem.

Spenser Heaps

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Wendy Bills was the faculty advisor for swimming when the Provo High School administration, which had gone through five girls volleyball coaches in five years, came calling.

Good choice.

Bills had never coached volleyball before so she went to work taking classes at BYU to learn more about the sport. She coached the Bulldogs from 1985 to 2015, winning three state championships (1992, 1999, 2000) and 12 region titles while reaching the state tournament 27 times.

For her outstanding contribution to high school sports, Bills will be inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame during its spring banquet. She heads a group of distinguished coaches that includes Curtis Barney, Todd Jeffs, Mike Maxwell, Joe Pereira, Barry Pitt and Erik Thompson. Distinguished Service inductees include Dan Leonard, Jeff Reeves and Wesley Ruff.

Her daughter, Natalie, played for the Bulldogs and graduated in 2001. She went on to play at Montana State-Billings and was inducted into that school’s sports hall of fame in 2014.

“She put her heart into her program and athletes,” Natalie Bills said. “If there was a clinic, camp, or tournament we were in it and she was there to open the doors and lay the floor tape. The traditions she created in her program are memorable. We always got ice cream at the Malt Shop after playing at Spingville, had a watermelon bust the last day of camp, special awards at the themed banquets, resting in the red room during state. She loved and believed in us and even when we made mistakes, we still knew it.

“More than any record or championships, her legacy is in the positive relationships she’s had with hundreds of female athletes. She created a love of the game and competition that is not only evidenced by her players that continued playing at the collegiate level but by the many more that continued and still continue to play in recreational leagues or became coaches themselves. One of her many mottos was ‘if it ain’t fun, it ain’t done’ and she worked hard to make the hard work fun.

“I’m partial because she’s my mom and best friend but she’s amazing and has made an impact with her life as a coach and teacher and I’m beyond proud of her.”

Bills, a 1974 graduate of Skyline High School and a 178 graduate of BYU, is still at Provo High. She is in her 43rd year of teaching in the Physical Education department and running the Driver’s Ed program.

Her family includes her husband, Greg, three children (Natalie, Kyle and Nathan) and six grandchildren.

Bills will be inducted at the UHSOFF Spring Honors and Awards Banquet on April 7 at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. A reception is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the ceremony begins at 7 p.m. For more information, go to springbanquet.ushoff.org.