Young Blue Devils setting standard for McDonald
Have reached the first district final since the program’s inception in 2019
Trending
When McDonald steps on the court this evening at David Anderson Junior/Senior High School, there's more than just a district title on the line.
There's a legacy to be penned.
It may come as a surprise to some that it took until 2019 for the Blue Devils to suit up a varsity volleyball program, but in a short period of time, McDonald has made quite a splash.
After all, when the "McDonald" name is printed across your jersey, there's a certain standard to uphold, new program, or not.
"We're definitely off to a great start, I guess time will tell, I couldn't have asked or expected a better start," said Blue Devils coach Mike Klockner. "All credit to the players, they're the ones putting the work in, the time and effort, and buying into what we're coaching them. I couldn't be happier with the start of this so far."
Amy Harrison led the program for the first two seasons, but her and Klockner helped push for a program when both had daughters that expressed interest in playing the sport. Athletic director Josh Krumpak started to get the ball rolling, and McDonald began a junior high program in 2018.
Taking advice from David Terzak at the Thunder Volleyball Club, Klockner was one of the founding fathers of the Blue Devils program, acting as an assistant during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Two members of that 2018 eighth grade team still don the navy and white of McDonald. Now seniors, Maria Rasile and Megan Zajack didn't participate in other sports growing up, but each found something special within the game of volleyball.
"I think just playing with people, and just the intensity of the game, those moments are just so fun, just getting a good kill or getting an ace," said Zajack. "It's really important to be strong as a team together, just getting along with everyone and not having any drama, I think we do really well with that. I think everyone on our team gets along very well, and we have a lot of fun together."
It wasn't easy at first.
The Blue Devils went 8-15 in 2019 and followed it up with a 12-12 season during the fall of 2020. Rasile and her teammates knew the potential for something special was brewing when the program made a big leap during her junior season, finishing 16-5.
"It's definitely really cool to be like the team that started the volleyball program at McDonald, to be the team that kinda everyone will remember in a way," Rasile said. "We've definitely come so far since the beginning, we've definitely picked up in a lot of different things, and it's really cool to watch our team grow and think back to where we were my freshman year versus where we are now.
"I think some of the girls come to our games and I think it makes them want to play too, we've definitely had a great turnout with our junior high and the program in the future looks really strong."
This season, McDonald currently has a record of 20-5 and booked their trip to the Division IV, Lisbon District finals following a 3-1 victory over Dalton on Tuesday. Rasile currently leads the team with 324 kills this season, along with 347 digs, 254 assists, and 50 serving aces. Freshman Gianna Costantino has 236 receptions, and junior Lauren Sierra leads with 45 total blocks.
Junior Grace Bundy, Megan Klockner, and freshman Miley Titus have also played significant roles during the 2022 campaign, but the team as a whole has found a way to just gel.
"A lot of my players play club, and that has really helped kinda catch up to other schools, to kinda bridge that gap," said Mike Klockner, as his team competes in a very strong MVAC.
"It's not just those who play club, a lot of them play multiple sports which is wonderful because it makes them better competitors, better athletes, so I think that all comes into it too. It makes them handle pressure, it just makes them better overall athletes."
4th-seeded McDonald will test their mettle against top-seed and one-loss Wellsville in Lisbon this evening, with the opportunity to compete in regional play on the table.
Just being in a position to battle against some of the best already speaks volumes for a younger program that's very much still under construction in some regards.
"We took a really big jump (in 2021) and won a lot more games, and that definitely kinda shocked people," Rasile said. "I don't think they were really expecting us to go out and do that."
"It was really cool to show people that we had that talent and we were able to do that, and now this year, going into the district championship, I think people didn't really expect that from us, and it's really cool to show them how good we can be and the talent we have on our team."