McCann ready to direct CM volleyball
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – The Central Mountain volleyball team brings back some talent from last year’s District 6 Class 4A runner-up squad and they begin the season with a new coach. Chip McCann was hired in April to replace Jamie Rauch who resigned after last year’s 12-6 campaign. McCann had worked previously with the volleyball program and also has served as a game manager at Central Mountain.
The first-year head coach says that preseason has gone very well: “We’ve had about 20 girls who have committed to getting better at volleyball since the beginning of summer, so we’ve been able to ‘hit the ground running’ so-to-speak.” He said he’ll know better “once we start competing and we can really see where we need to be and make adjustments as such.”
So far, he said, squad members have been great: “The girls are great! They’re all competing, working hard and having fun. You can tell they love this sport and that is important. We have a nice blend of all four grades (9-12) at the varsity level and that’s important when you’re trying to build a program to continue to be successful. That’s the message…we aren’t looking to just have success in 2022….we want each year after to be successful as well.”
McCann said there is a good nucleus of some six or seven returnees with varsity experience and called the team “pretty well balanced,” dressing four seniors, four juniors, three or four sophomores and three freshmen for varsity. He said the senior class is the smallest in number so there will be some underclassmen who will not only contribute significantly to the program this year but gain some valuable experience moving forward. The current grouping sees 15 girls on varsity and 12 with the jayvees and two or three working with both.
McCann said the goal is to build on the program’s recent success, stating his believe that unfortunately “the best team in program history (the 2020 season) was the unfortunate victim of Covid.” He said part of the program’s “reason” is to honor that team and carry on the level of play that they established, for the long term. “We have kids that can do that! Whether we do or not, is to be determined, but that’s the goal!”
He said there is some outstanding talent on the team, adding “If they can believe in themselves as much as I believe in them, we could make a nice run. Goal number one is to get back to the District 6 championship game and produce a different outcome. Our schedule is going to prepare us for that, I think.”
McCann terms this year’s schedule the toughest schedule in the history of Central Mountain. Like most sports throughout PIAA, he said, different areas are strong in different sports. District 6 volleyball produces some really good teams year in and year out. “The Mountain League is a formidable volleyball league. Since we are in District 6, but in the PHAC (which doesn’t have a volleyball league) we are able to schedule some matches with a few Mountain League schools, which is great.”
He said the Lady Wildcat tournament schedule this year is really challenging. In back-to-back weekends in September, they will be playing in a 30 team tournament at St. Francis followed by the Cumberland Valley volleyball tournament the following Saturday. He said three of the four (PIAA has 4 classifications in volleyball) returning state champions are at that tournament. “It will be a great test. It will also be a great gauge, at a good time of the season, to see where we need to be if we want to accomplish our goals.”
And McMann finished with a pitch for the program: “We would love to pack our gym for all of our home matches. If you’re not familiar with competitive volleyball, this would be a good time to start. It’s fast paced, exciting, high energy and we have some really good players. We’re looking forward to a great season!”
Central Mountain is scheduled for a home scrimmage with North Penn-Liberty this Thursday at 4 p.m., a season-opening contest on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at Bald Eagle Area at 7 p.m.
