Sports
Young Fontbonne Volleyball Team Hopes for Continued Success
The Ducks' first-year coach will rely on a young core to build off a 15-4 campaign last year.
The volleyball team might be young on the roster and young in the head coaching department in terms on experience, but that doesn’t mean a competitive bunch isn’t ready to build upon a successful 2010 season.
Kathleen McCarthy is in as the new head coach, her first time ever as a head coach in her career, and she will look to lead a youthful roster with a plethora of underclasswomen looking to add to a 15-4 season and a No. 2 seed in the tournament that the Ducks finished with last year.
McCarthy sees a roster that will be good this year and strong for several years to come.
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“We are definitely going to be competitive this year and I’m definitely looking forward to the next few years as well,” she said. “They make it exciting to go to practice.”
The new Ducks coach knows a thing or two about being competitive on the high school level in Massachusetts. In her playing days at North Quincy High, she was part of a juggernaut volleyball team that won three state championships and lost less than five games in McCarthy’s tenure as a student-athlete.
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In order to get Fontbonne to that level, McCarthy will have to lean on her captains this year to set a precedent for the younger talent that is coming up through the ranks of the volleyball program.
Senior Rachel Selbert is the setter of the team and will quarterback the formations for the Ducks.
“She’s definitely a leader and she has a ton of experience,” McCarthy said of her senior captain.
Jennifer Gemma has become a household name on the basketball court for the Ducks and she is looking to do the same in volleyball. McCarthy thinks she has a building block for the next two years in Gemma, a junior, and the rest of the competition will have to be on the look out when she is on the court.
“She is going to be an All-Star player,” said McCarthy. “I’m really excited for her progress.”
Colleen MacDonald is also a junior captain for a younger team, and she will be vital on the court and off it, according to her head coach.
New times are officially on the horizon for the Ducks, and this season could be a starting point for good things to come at Fontbonne for the volleyball team.
