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Jersey Shore volleyball hopes to make strides through inaugural season

By HENRY HUBER 5 min read

Over the last two decades, Jersey Shore has built legacies in a large variety of sports. In Fall alone, the football program has appeared in eight straight district championships and won five of them, with golf sporting similar success. And that doesn't even factor in softball and boys tennis, who made state final appearances in 2010 and 2026 respectively.

However, the same can't be said for the sport of volleyball. While the school offers a wide array of sports for teenagers to apply their strengths to, even adding a new sport in unified bocce as recently as 2023, volleyball has remained off the school district's list of athletic offerings.

Until 2026, that is.

Just weeks before the 2026 volleyball season got under way and days before its approval deadline, the Jersey Shore school board officially approved the establishment of its volleyball program. The newfound squad has since competed in seven regular-season matches and a tournament, trying its hand against numerous established programs. It kicked off its inaugural season at St. Joseph's Catholic on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and hosted Sugar Valley for its home opener eight days later.

It's been a work in progress, both in terms of on-the-court success and providing the team with typical resources. Head coach Joshua Smith mans the helm as the only coach officially employed by the district, and he and volunteer coaches Tom Packard, Jessica Kowalchick and Jared Kowalchick handle much of the funding alongside parents.

"We are basically a self-funded program," said Jessica Kowalchick following a recent match at Sugar Valley.

"I'm not sure of what happened in the past, but we are basically funding ourselves on the booster program between fundraisers and donations. We had the school board's approval to officially be a part of the Jersey Shore school programs, but we are doing all the funding to keep the program."

That adds an additional, lofty challenge alongside the usual hardships that come throughout a high school sports season, one they hope is alleviated sooner than later. For now, the focus is on hosting fundraisers when possible, including a car wash days before the season's kick off and a community night at the season's conclusion. And on the court, the focus is on improving with every practice and match.

Court wise, the program's been a project in the making for the last two years, with the current staff and seniors hosting off-site open gyms to get girls at Jersey Shore interested in the sport. That played a role in forming its current nine-girl roster.

When it comes to the Bulldogs, the usual player archetypes are flipped, as the roster features a blend of experienced youth and inexperienced senior leadership. Three of its freshmen in Charlotte Smith, Leah White and Maylee Sechrist have played club ball and thereby have the most experience. Its three seniors - Brooke Charney, Josephine Renninger and Mackendra Stoetzel - only recently picked up the sport.

"A lot of them have never played before. We have three girls that played club ball but that's just in the area. They only got a couple games a year. So, this is all completely new for some girls," said Kowalchick.

"We just want to keep working on teamwork and team building, getting the basics down. We've been really practicing hard on doing that, just basic, simple stuff to get it started."

Though their impact will be limited to one year, the seniors have stepped up tremendously when it comes to leadership and team building. All the while, the underclassmen are making strides every day and have impressed their coaches through the first month of competition.

"They've really taken a lot of time with the younger girls, did a lot of team-bonding things. They've really stood up," said Kowalchick on the seniors. "Our freshmen are really talented, and they should be really proud of themselves for how well they've done."

It isn't what many would consider a recipe for a championship. In fact, all seven of their regular-season matches have ended in losses, with five concluding in three sets.

However, the foundation is being put in place for the program's future, a future that could be considerably bright considering its youth. Despite its 0-7 record, Jersey Shore has already been able to take two sets off multiple teams in Sugar Valley and East Juniata, even holding a 2-1 lead in its first match against the Phoenix.

"It's a building program," said Kowalchick. "But they've taken their hard hits, and they keep coming. They come to practice, they work hard and they're in high spirits during the games."

"Sometimes, it's easy to get defeated when you're taking those hard hits, but they keep coming every week ready to play," she continued.

As of now, the team's schedule features nine more outings, including two postponed matches against Central Mountain and Towanda. Its next match is set for Saturday against North Penn-Liberty, and it concludes the season at home against Lewisburg on Thursday, Oct. 22.

"I know our last game of the season, we're planning on doing Community Night, getting everybody in to rally for the girls," said Kowalchick on the team's last match. "So, we're excited about that, just so everybody can come in and see what we've done in the past few months."

It'll take time for the program to hold a candle to the Shore squads that have made names for themselves in the Fall, programs which have had decades to establish themselves. But given where it stood just two months ago, the staff is happy with where it's at and looks forward to continued growth.

Starting at /week.