By FRED KRONER
Twelve years ago, Abby McDonald took over a St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball program which was traditionally strong, yet at a crossroads.
When she became the head coach prior to the 2008 season, SJ-O had produced 20-win seasons in seven of the previous eight years.
The lone miss, however, was the year prior to her promotion from assistant to the top position. The Spartans compiled a 10-20 final record in 2007.
Where the program was headed was unclear. For McDonald, it was her first head coaching stint.
She was just seven years removed from a stellar high school career as a setter at Hoopeston Area.
McDonald isn’t one to dwell on the past. Or, for that matter, the present.
“I rarely know what the team record is,” McDonald said. “I just want to make sure we’re improving and prepared for the postseason.”
With the help of a visual aid, there is one record McDonald is sure to remember.
She was already the winningest volleyball coach in school history and earned career win No. 300 on Oct. 10 against Pontiac. Her players made certain she will recall the date.
As SJ-O principal Gary Page made a post-match announcement about the feat to the home audience that Thursday night, the Spartans delivered a signed ball to McDonald.
She was appreciative of the gesture, but didn’t lose focus.
After the brief ceremony, the coach didn’t need to be reminded of the next step.
“We moved on and started preparing for the next night,” McDonald said.
During her 12-year tenure, SJ-O has not won fewer than 20 matches in any season. Her 300th win occurred in the 377th varsity match she coached at the school.
Entering Tuesday’s regular-season home finale against Olympia, McDonald has 303 career wins and boasts a career winning percentage of 79.7 percent.
This year’s team has a 24-4 record.
You won’t hear McDonald talking about her accolades.
“I want the game to be about the kids,” McDonald said.
The key to the high school success is the start that the players get during junior high.
“We’re blessed with good feeder programs,” McDonald said.
She insists that the success of the high school program is not just a reflection of her efforts.
“I’ve really been blessed with great assistant coaches,” she said, “and to be on the sidelines with really good and talented people who helped me build the program.”
Even after achieving a milestone, McDonald doesn’t lose sight of the big picture.
“Our conference is very talented and I am focused more on what we need to do to be successful,” she said.
During the school day, second-grade teacher McDonald rarely sees her varsity players. She has learned that she might be surrounded by some of her future players though.
One current varsity player she taught a decade ago is senior Rylee Stahl.
Since McDonald decided on a teaching career, second grade is where she found her calling.
“That (grade) has always been one of my favorites,” she said. “They know how to read coming in, and I love to teach reading comprehension.”
During her first two years as the SJ-O volleyball coach, McDonald also worked with the junior high program. She gave that up after starting a family (Hadley is now 10 and Kru is 7).
But in 2014, she started a brief introductory youth program for students as young as kindergarten.
“It’s fun to see how excited they are,” McDonald said. “We’ve done youth camps in the summer since I’ve been here, but there was nothing in the winter.”
The program she implemented is once a week for four weeks. Each session lasts about 90 minutes.
Even if she doesn’t get future players, she may get some fans.
“They tend to come to the games and watch,” McDonald said. “It’s fun to be a part of their academic career as well as their athletic career.”
Her own career path was set while in high school.
“I definitely wanted to be a teacher,” McDonald said.
She was an athlete for all seasons, shifting from volleyball in the fall to basketball during the winter and softball in the spring.
“They were pretty equal until my senior year when I fell in love more with the sport of volleyball,” she said.
As a senior, she was on the six-player News-Gazette All-Area second team, helping Hoopeston to a 23-win season and a conference championship in 2000.
After playing two years at Danville Area Community College, she completed her collegiate eligibility at Illinois-Springfield.
She wasn’t looking to stay in the game after graduation.
“I was fortunate to play four years in college,” McDonald said, “but I didn’t aspire to be a coach.”
She had plenty of influential role models during her formative years, including veteran volleyball coaches Beth Carpenter, Mike Pennicook and Shawn Lane.
Perhaps her biggest influence was basketball coach Jim Matta, a person with whom she maintains contact.
“Coach Matta taught me a love for sports and what I can do outside of the gym,” McDonald said. “I still communicate with him.”
Whether she winds up with a souvenir ball in the future for milestone wins such as No. 500 and No. 600 is to be determined.
“Who knows what the future will hold,” she said.
One person who hopes McDonald keeps coaching is her 10-year-old daughter.
“She asked, ‘Will you keep coaching until I get to high school,’ and I realized that’s only three more seasons,” McDonald said.
She has had conversations with the school’s former boys’ basketball coach and current superintendent Brian Brooks about recognizing when it’s time to step aside.
“He has been a valuable mentor,” McDonald said. “I asked, ‘how do you know when it’s your time to be done,’ and he said, ‘You’ll know.’”
Her response?
“I’ve told him I don’t know yet,” she said.
Part of that is a tribute to the athletes she has coached and is coaching.
“I’ve had good kids who make it enjoyable,” McDonald said.
There is one certainty that has been a constant for McDonald, from the time she was a competitive athlete and continuing through her tenure as a head coach.
She can look in the stands and spot her parents, Dana and Ken Kuntz.
“My parents don’t miss a match,” McDonald said, “unless dad is in the field farming.
“They enjoy it as much as I do the coaching and are always encouraging.”
Asked to put reaching the 300-career win mark in perspective, McDonald answered, “all that means is that I’m getting old.”
