St. Mary’s reins handed from wife to husband, and Pirates players enjoying transition
At the end of St. Mary’s volleyball tryouts earlier this month, coach Chris Sweeney pointed to the championship banners hanging inside the gymnasium while addressing his players.
“I said, ‘Look up there on the wall at all of those banners,” he recalled. “There is a lot of tradition for winning here at St. Mary’s and that didn’t come without a lot of effort and hard work.”
That winning tradition will continue this year in the hands of a new Sweeney, as Chris takes over head coaching duties at St. Mary’s for his wife, Melissa, after she announced her resignation last season. Now, the program that Melissa fostered in the past 13 years will continue with Chris.
St. Mary’s is nothing new to Chris. He spent the past 10 years as an assistant coach/volunteer with his wife. He is familiar with this year’s returning team, which is coming off a 10-13 season despite playing mostly freshmen.
“It definitely helps having some background knowledge,” Chris said. “… They already know how I coach, so it isn’t something completely different they are seeing. It makes the transition a little bit easier for both sides.”
Senior Katie Whitelaw returns as one of the team’s veteran offensive threats and said it was a relief when she heard in June that Chris would be taking over.
“When they were searching for a coach I was nervous at first not knowing what was going to happen,” Whitelaw said. “When we got Chris, I felt really comfortable getting a coach that knows the team and how I play going into my senior year.
“It has been a good transition. … He definitely pushes us a lot harder and brings that technical aspect to the game.”
Chris is an engineer who travels a lot for work, so Melissa will still help out around the team. She will also assist her husband in some of the administrative obligations of being a head coach.
After being together for more than two decades – the married couple celebrated their 23rd anniversary last week – it is safe to say Chris understands some of the challenges and obstacles that may come his way.
The Sweeneys’ daughter, Tara, has played for both parents and said she has noticed her dad bringing a competitive edge to this year’s team.
“He coaches differently than my mom does, which I like because me and my mom bumped heads a lot,” Tara said with a laugh. “I know we have a good coach that will push us really hard to reach our goals.”
Chris is working with the Pirates on ironing out some of the young squad’s wrinkles, but he is confident that come the end of the season St. Mary’s may be knocking on some team’s doors.
“Toward the end of the year we could be kind of a sleeper team,” he said.
St. Mary’s Emily Whitelaw blocks a ball from The Classical Academy’s Kim Krutsinger (9) in game two Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011, at St. Mary’s. The Pirates won the game 25-21. (photo by Kevin Kreck)
From left to right, Tara Sweeney, Emily Broerman, Hannah Faber and Jackie Delfeld take part in a drill last season at St. Mary’s. Sweeney, Broerman and Delfeld return to the volleyball team this year. Faber graduated. Wednesday, August 21, 2013. Hannah Faber is one of the team’s three captains. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
From left to right, Tara Sweeney, Emily Broerman, Hannah Faber and Jackie Delfeld take part in a drill last season at St. Mary’s. Sweeney, Broerman and Delfeld return to the volleyball team this year. Faber graduated. Wednesday, August 21, 2013. Hannah Faber is one of the team’s three captains. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
