If Coach Rob McVicker had been asked in 2018, when he initially joined the Muhlenberg Volleyball team coaching staff, if he would one day take over as head coach, he would have been completely surprised. In McVicker’s first season as an assistant under Coach Amanda Krampf, the girl’s squad boasted a 20-8 record and had received a significant amount of attention from the Division III national polling. However, at the beginning of this year, Krampf announced her unexpected resignation, which left the team searching for a new coach.
Muhlenberg, instead of hiring a coach from outside of the program, chose McVicker as the volleyball team’s next head coach. “Coach Krampf’s departure from the program was very sudden and unexpected, so I never thought being the head coach at Muhlenberg would be a possibility, especially as my first head coaching role.” said McVicker. “When the opportunity arose, I knew there wasn’t a team or institution that I would rather coach for.”
Although this is McVicker’s first time as a head coach, his connection to the game of volleyball is extensive. After graduating from DeSales University in 2016 where he was a member of the school’s club volleyball team, he coached at the high school, club, and now the collegiate level. McVicker credits his immense amount of experience, in such a short time, to something very interesting about volleyball. “One of the unique things about the sport of volleyball is that the high school season for girls is in the fall while the boy’s season is in the spring. This provides the ability to gain multiple seasons of coaching in one year for coaches that do both,” McVicker said.
McVicker is stepping into a difficult situation that not every rookie head coach has faced: dealing with the effects of a global pandemic. The team was not able to compete last fall due to their season being cancelled. However, he believes his team has adapted to their circumstances. “One of the very few silver linings of this pandemic is the normalcy of Zoom calls and other video chat programs. It provides the ability to stay connected to each other throughout these times,” he said. Through Zoom, the team was in charge of putting together group activities to spend time with one another and grow into a cohesive unit. It’s definitely not the same as being in person, but McVicker believed that it was vital to bridge the gap for when the team was fully able to return.
For this spring semester, there are two themes at play: honoring the foundations of the team while also excitingly looking towards the future. Any form of spring competition for the volleyball team would be graciously taken. McVicker is hopeful for this, saying, “I am excited to explore the possibilities of competing in the spring, especially to provide our seniors a send-off that they deserve.”
For a team with winning aspirations, a situation like this is a perfect opportunity to get better as well as find the group’s identity. McVicker will continue to lean on the team’s veterans for leadership, as the only goal in sight is to compete for a Centennial Conference Championship.
Looking ahead towards the fall, the roster will consist of a lot of unproven names, as the team will have more than ten players who have yet to compete in the Centennial Conference. The conference as a whole will see a lot of change as well, and Coach McVicker does not seem worried. He says, “The exciting thing is that this will be fairly consistent for the rest of the conference, so there is little to no idea of what teams will look like. I see this as an opportunity to make a name for ourselves. I am looking forward to it.”
