California dreaming
CRANBERRY TWP — Seneca Valley's boys volleyball program has turned out many talented players who have gone on to play in college.
Cole McDonough will join that list in two years and he knows his destination.
The current junior libero recently gave a verbal commitment to continue his academic and athletic career at UCLA, where he will receive a partial scholarship.
“My dad and I went out in July to visit the campus,” he said. “It was kind of a dead period, but I just got that feeling that it was the place for me.”
McDonough lost his sophomore season at Seneca Valley to COVID-19, but had already turned in a strong performance for Vanguard during the club season, which concluded in February.
It was good enough that McDonough sent out video highlights of himself attached to emails to a number of colleges.
“I just wanted to get a feel for how much interest they showed in me,” he said.
Ohio State and UCLA were interested. The former may have seemed like a logical choice for McDonough, since Vanguard is based just outside of Columbus, Ohio, but the trip to California sold him on heading to the west coast.
“I had a lot of contact with an assistant coach at UCLA, John Hawks. Their head coach (John Speraw) is also head coach for the U.S. Men's National Team.”
Brett Poirier has served as an assistant with SV's boys program for four years.
“He became a starter for us his freshman year,” he said of McDonough. “He figured it out early on.
“Cole can serve/receive and handles the ball well. He can hit a spot with his serves with no problem. UCLA is one of the top teams in the country every year. For him to commit there, as a junior, it's a very big accomplishment.”
McDonough began playing volleyball in the fourth grade for Pitt Elite, a club team.
The next year, he became a manager for Seneca Valley's girls team, which at that point included his older sister, Maddie.
His involvement in club volleyball helped take his game to another level.
“Vanguard has a really competitive program,” said McDonough. “We've played in tournaments in California, St. Louis, Chicago ... and the level of play is higher than in a lot of other regions.”
McDonough has remained active by playing pickup games at the sand courts outside of Victory Church in Cranberry Township. He and his teammates at Seneca Valley hope next spring to get back on the court.
Either way, he knows volleyball will be part of his future.
“I'm a really competitive person and I love the feeling of winning. Every aspect of volleyball, I love it.”
McDonough is the son of Jim and Karen McDonough of Cranberry Township.
