The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2023 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers.
The562’s coverage of St. Anthony athletics is sponsored by Jane & B.I. Mais, Class of 1948.
St. Anthony is no stranger to change – especially when it comes to their head coach.
Alicia Lemau’u stepped down as head coach in 2022 after a decade of leadership, including a CIF title in 2016. Keli Pula took over the role, where the Saints made the postseason during his first year, but passed tragically after that.
Now, there’s a new face on the court. Kassidy Harrington has been hired as the new coach, and said she is excited to begin her first year with the St. Anthony’s girls’ volleyball team.
Harrington comes from a volleyball background. Alongside working toward her master’s degree in Sports Management, she coaches club volleyball and assisted at Pacifica last year. While she considered taking the time off to work on her degree, she couldn’t stay away from the opening at St. Anthony.
“When I applied, it happened so quickly,” Harrington said. “I know that I have to fulfill a purpose, everything just happens so perfectly, there’s a reason why I’m here.”
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While Harrington adjusts to her team, she said the Saints’ class of 2027 is a special one within the program.
“We have high hopes for, really, our whole sophomore class,” Harrington said. “I’m really excited to have them for these next three years until their senior year. We expect great things from the sophomore class overall.”
Harrington said one of the main things that makes this young class stick out above the rest is their mindset.
“It’s one thing for someone to be athletic and to have the background of volleyball, but they also all have the mindset of just working hard and, not only that, being respectful,” Harrington said. I think that they made the transition really easy for me as a coach to come in very new with our very little time we’ve had together so far.”
Outside hitter Makayla Shepard and middle blocker Quinn Bell are two of the strong sophomores on the team. Shepard serves as a co-captain, as well.
““They’ve just been, you know, excelling in their offseason, been working really hard and they really have a good mentality of an athlete,” Harrington said.
A top returner in the sophomore class is Brooke Jondle. Jondle was the only Saint who earned First Team All Del Rey League honors last season. Harrington said she specializes in beach volleyball but is definitely a force on this year’s roster.
“[Jondle is] an incredible athlete, incredible work ethic, and a really good leader,” Harrington said.
Harrington knows that her team will face many challenges throughout the season. While some challenges have already presented themselves in preseason, Harrington said she is trying to build leaders who will keep going through hardships.
“Teaching them the overall theme of, ‘what are we going to do when we’re faced with adversity?’” Harrington said. “I think especially with such a young group, it’s really important to instill their confidence to be able to come back from adversity.”
While she obviously wants to collect some wins as head coach, Harrington is more focused on developing her players as human beings.
“I think building female leaders is just one of the many ways that we can impact our community overall,” Harrington said. “I’ve always believed that the youth that we have develop our future. They are the leaders of tomorrow.”
