Saint Vincent men's volleyball team launches after short prep time, casts eye toward future

Serves zipped past the end line. Pass attempts went astray. Spikes died in the heart of the net.

A ragged 3-0 loss to Penn State Behrend on Sunday wasn’t what the Saint Vincent men’s volleyball team wanted in its inaugural match at Carey Center. But the result almost didn’t matter.

The Bearcats were off and running, and, win or lose, it is a far cry from where the team was a year ago: nonexistent.

Conceived in February 2019, the team was put together from a few veteran Saint Vincent club players and a handful of freshmen. Coach Scott Wisneski, who played on two Derry state title teams in the 1980s and coached Latrobe’s boys team for 10 seasons, was hired the following month.

With relatively little time to prepare, Wisneski dove headlong into recruiting — only to discover most high school players already were committed to colleges.

“Luckily, we had enough guys here, and two came for this semester,” he said.

The Saint Vincent club team provided most of the current roster of 13. Seniors such as outside hitter Gage McCracken, a Norwin graduate, relished a final chance to compete at a high level.

“I know myself, (Norwin grad) Mitch (Niderstros), Collin (Neville), we haven’t played since our senior year of high school,” McCracken said. “It’s just good to get back out there and play. We played club before, but it’s not the same as this.”

Freshman libero Matt Klasnic, a Latrobe grad, is one of the most recent additions to the team. He arrived on campus at the start of the spring semester and has had little time to adjust to his new surroundings, let alone new teammates.

But Klasnic said he felt accepted right away and believes the Bearcats (0-3) have performed remarkably well given their limited work.

“Off the bat, we’re all very social guys, and we all have a passion for the game,” he said. “That alone allowed us to come together, jell.

“We’re still working on it, but in the amount of time we’ve had here, we’re not only a team, we’re starting to become a close team. We’re only going to grow from here.”

Growth is the goal for the short term and the long term. As evidenced by Sunday’s match, the Bearcats have a lot of rough edges to smooth over.

McCracken said he believes two factors will help the team clean up its mistakes: Wisneski’s influence and more game experience.

“Foundationally, I think we’re well-built,” he said. “Scott is great in practice and in games, and I think it will be great to play for him the rest of the season.

“For a lot of (us), we’re just starting to get back into the swing of things. I feel like once we get our feel for the game back, we’ll be a lot better.”

In the long term, the Bearcats want to build a winning program. Saint Vincent is playing an independent schedule this season and will join the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference for the 2021 season.

Klasnic and McCracken agreed Saint Vincent is, literally, well-positioned to bring in talented players. Westmoreland County is home to several strong high school boys volleyball teams, and the Unity-based school, they said, would be an ideal destination for aspiring college players.

Klasnic said he is excited to have a front-row seat to see the immediate improvements — when those serves, passes and spikes will fly true — and future success.

“I get to be one of the guys to pioneer this and get the program off in the right direction and be a leader going forward,” he said. “Just build a foundation, build a team and try to create a family environment. Next year, we will just take off and run with it.”