Fox Chapel Boys' Volleyball

Fox Chapel's boys' volleyball team seized the WPIAL title, then just missed capturing the state title and finished State Runner-Up. Coach Phil O'Keefe's team ended a near-perfect season at 24-2. "It was a great run," he says. "Pennsylvania is a very good state for volleyball. To be second in PA is saying something. The players were very dedicated. A lot played in the off-season and were very focused. They didn’t get big heads, didn't get nervous, [were] very steady and gutsy."

It was the furthest the Fox Chapel boys—or anyone in the WPIAL—have advanced.

The PA high school boys' volleyball championships collided with end of school and the resulting chaos could have been trouble. If the wear and tear of the last daze of school is a sprint car race, then the emotional and physical highs of WPIAL and State playoffs is a roller coaster ride. Nine AM match times on Friday and Saturday heightened the challenge for a team who normally played at 7pm. So the squad practiced the days before at 6:30 AM before class began. "I was a little leery of senioritis, but from the beginning, their goal was WPIALs and states," O'Keefe says. "They came in at 6:15 ready to go. It was good to see they had a lot more energy than I thought they would. And it paid off."

The fourth-year Fox Chapel coach is seeing payoffs in the program as well. "The senior kids really took the younger kids—even the 7th and 8th graders—under their wings and showed them how to play," O'Keefe notes. "Four of the seniors have been with me since the get-go: Mike Powers, Eric Caplan, Mark Meinert, and Nick Rivet."

Rivet, a captain and starter who will probably play at St. Francis, was named the WPIAL MVP. “He may be,” says the coach, “the best player in the state, if not the East Coast.” The first team All-Section, All-WPIAL outside hitter generated a lot of looks from different California colleges and universities. Caplan, a 6'4" captain, started at Middle Hitter for the Foxes. Meinert, a 6’3” first-team all-section captain and starter, also played soccer at Fox Chapel. The fourth senior who began with the coach as a freshman was Mike Powers.

Senior Robert Tenenini only played this year. But O’Keefe says he became part of a key factor for their success, especially at one match where the Foxes struggled against one of the best players in the WPIAL. The coach notes, “Tenenini came off bench, had the best game of his career and shut them down. He basically changed the outcome of the game—without his play we wouldn’t won WPIALs.” He, Powers, and senior D.J. Guardino were part of a B-team that constantly challenged the starters in practice. O’Keefe believes the team’s unheralded depth was the Foxes’ surprise strength. “Their [Tenenini, Powers, and Guardino] role was to push the first team. This was the greatest team—I had two good legitimate teams to play at practice. Thirteen guys actually lettered this year. Without their contribution, we would not have gotten as far as we did. I literally think the B-team would have made playoffs. They were a top ten team in themselves.”

Other players included: Second team All Section junior Taylor Burget; first team All Section junior Eric Garrison (also honorable mention All WPIALs); first team All Section, second team All WPIAL junior starter Seth Katich; first team All Section, third All WPIALs junior starter Adam Wagner; second team All Section sophomore starter Mitchell Grant; sophomore Juan Manfredi; sophomore Justin Mroz; and sophomore Karl Gough.

The Foxes are coached by: Phil O'Keeffe, Head Coach; Beth Enterline, Assistant Coach; Megan McGrane, Volunteer Assistant; Kellen Petrone, Volunteer Assistant; Tony Rivett, Volunteer Assistant.

All photos courtesy of Linda Mitchell.