First-year Cougars beach volleyball team has designs on winning rapidly

Just before Cardinal Mooney’s volleyball game on March 30, Cougars coach Chad Sutton had an important question for the opposition.

“Do you all mind if we play some music?” he asked.

The opposition, Bradenton Christian, said no. A few seconds later, the hypnotic sound of Atlanta-based rap group Migos filled the air, followed by The Killers’ classic teenage anthem “Mr. Brightside.” With the music on lock, Cougars seniors Annie Shaw and Brooke Picchi dug their toes into the sand at Bee Ridge Park, ready to play. They won the first point, but there were no officials present to keep score, so the players did it themselves.

Indoor volleyball, this was not.

The beach volleyball program was started this year by Sutton, who has both coached and played the beach version extensively in the past. He knew when he was hired before the school year he wanted to introduce the sport to Cardinal Mooney and told his indoor volleyball seniors as much when he arrived. They were just as big proponents of the idea as he was, Sutton said.

Cardinal Mooney plays the sport through the Sunshine State Athletic Conference, which also started sanctioning the sport for the first time this spring. There are 22 teams in the newly formed conference, with Bishop Verot and The Village School joining Mooney in the Gulf Division. All 22 teams will meet at the state tournament April 22 at Hickory Point Beach in Tavares.

The Cougars’ goal, according to Shaw, is to make a name for themselves at the tournament, despite primarily playing to have fun and embracing the relaxed nature of the sport itself. To do that, the team will have to adjust to a number of differences between beach and indoor volleyball.

“It's definitely more of a strategy game,” Shaw said. “It is not 'How hard can you hit it?' It's 'Can you put the ball in the right spot?' There are two people (playing for each team at a time) and there is only so much court. It does not matter if you slam the ball down right at them because they are going to get it up. It's also a lot harder. You are trying to tire out the other team because it's hot and they are sweating.”

Sutton said playing with swirling wind is also a challenge his team will have to overcome, and one that is much harder to prepare his players for, given that wind is impossible to replicate in practice.

For Shaw, Picchi and fellow seniors Madison McNally and Kristina Amato, the team holds more meaning than just a fun diversion from college applications and homework. All four were part of a successful run of indoor Cougars teams. They could have tossed the idea of playing another sport during the final quarter of their high school careers. They did not. They decided together they wanted to make history.

“For them, they know they get to be the originals, the original 'G's,' Sutton said. “It was one of those things where, 'Oh, by the way, you are going to have a picture in the school when you come back and your kids are here. You'll be able to say you were the first in the program.' I think stuff like that, people love legacies. These kids, they want to leave one. It's pretty cool.”

Shaw and Picchi won their matchup, as did the pairs of McNally/Kali Plattner, Amato/Abi Johnson and Tiffany Thomas/Victoria Wilson. Only the matchups between the top three seeded pairs are counted, so technically Mooney won 3-0, even though all four pairs won individually.

It was the best start Sutton could ask for, but he knows the team still has some kinks to work out. The Cougars are going to learn the rules as a team, he said, and he’s confident they will get the hang of things rather quickly.

“To me, it's still volleyball,” Sutton said. “Bump, set, spike.”

For the next few weeks, Cardinal Mooney will attempt to ride that simplistic advice to the top of the standings, soaking up the sun and dancing to the beat all the way there.