St. Aloysius adding volleyball to its varsity sports lineup
Published 4:31 pm Tuesday, February 7, 2023
- From left, St. Aloysius volleyball head coach Allison McSherry, principal Jon Graham and assistant coach Danielle Bergeron pose for a photo in the school's gym. St. Al announced Tuesday that it is adding volleyball as a varsity girls' sport beginning in the fall of 2023. (Photo courtesy of Vicksburg Catholic Schools)
St. Aloysius is adding volleyball to its sports lineup.
The school announced Tuesday that it will field its first varsity high school volleyball team, as well as a junior varsity team, beginning in the fall of 2023.
Allison McSherry will be the head coach, and Danielle Bergeron the assistant coach.
McSherry has been a teacher since 2020 and is the assistant athletic director at Vicksburg Catholic School. She has coached girls’ volleyball for 12 years in Indiana and Mississippi.
“I’m so excited to bring volleyball to VCS and St. Aloysius. Our female athletes deserve to have the opportunity to play a game that I have enjoyed since I was in junior high,” McSherry said in a statement released by VCS. “I have enjoyed coaching for a decade with kids ages 9-18. It’s an amazing sport and I am looking forward to making school history by having the first team.”
St. Al will join 10 other schools in the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools league. There is only one classification for volleyball, and the teams compete in an open tournament at the end of the season to crown a state champion.
The other teams currently in the MAIS league are Madison-St. Joseph, Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep, Hillcrest Christian, Presbyterian Christian, Simpson Academy, Hartfield Academy, Heritage Academy and West Memphis Christian.
Volleyball has been a popular and growing sport in Mississippi over the past 10 or 15 years. Vicksburg High and Warren Central both added the sport in the late 2000s, and most members of the Mississippi High School Activities Association now play it.