School: William Tennent
Fans of William Tennent volleyball might have noticed that Kelli McMenamin – a fixture in the Panthers’ starting lineup since she was a freshman – is wearing a new number this season.
After wearing number 24 for three years, the Panthers’ senior setter is number three. It’s all part of following in the footsteps of older brother Brian, her inspiration and her best friend.
“I was always 13, but playing volleyball as a freshman, I took my brother’s number instead, so I was 24,” McMenamin said. “The boys’ team passes down the number three to the player that is going to lead the team, so he was (number) three his senior year, so this year I changed my number to three.”
McMenamin certainly fits the bill of leader for a young Tennent squad. The two-year captain has been the setter since pressed into emergency duty as a freshman. She will leave with the school record for assists. With two regular season matches remaining, McMenamin has 1,827 assists.
What is it that sets McMenamin apart?
“Honestly, I just think it’s her competitive nature,” coach Brian Bassler said. “She hates to lose. She does nothing but play volleyball. She leaves our season and goes right to club.
“She plays outdoor, she plays in 2 v. 2 tournaments. She really just never stops playing, and I think it’s that will to get better, her love for the game and her competitiveness.”
McMenamin developed an immediate passion for the sport when she tried it for the first time five years ago – again following the lead of her older sibling.
“I played soccer for 11 years, I danced for 11 years,” she said. “My brother got involved in volleyball, and I dropped everything. I played volleyball year-round for the past five years.”
McMenamin’s career began modestly enough as a member of her seventh grade team in middle school.
“They had a new program, and I joined,” she said. “It was mediocre.”
Around that time, McMenamin also became involved in the club circuit, joining the Bucks-Mont club squad. Two years later, that team disbanded, and she joined High Line. She remains a member of that squad.
McMenamin laughs when she recalls her first year with the high school team.
“I was actually a complete utility player when I came in as a freshman,” she said. “I did everything. I played middle, I was a libero.”
And she might have continued in that role if Tennent’s junior setter – Kaylyn Paccioli – had not gone down with a torn ACL during preseason.
“I had been the jayvee coach, and Kaylyn was my setter for two years,” Bassler recalled. “This was my first year as head coach. Kaylyn had pretty much run the offense, everything I’d done for two years, and she went down.”
Bassler knew McMenamin had good volleyball genes, and he liked her style of play.
“She has that mentality – go after everything, be very aggressive, and that helped her become a setter – going after those second balls,” the Panthers’ coach said. “We didn’t know what we were going to make of her. She could hit the ball pretty well. We knew she didn’t have a whole lot of size, but coming up, she probably could have been an outside hitter for the jayvee team that first year or a libero.
“After about a week watching her play, I said, ‘Look, she’s our best option. Let’s roll the dice and see what she can do.’”
McMenamin responded by having a record-shattering career for the Lady Panthers, although she insists that stepping into a varsity role was more than a little daunting.
“That was one of the scariest things,” she said. “I didn’t want to do it. I was scared. It was so intimidating.
“It wasn’t the greatest season.”
As a sophomore and junior, she led the Panthers to 13-win seasons, and McMenamin was – and remains – in the middle of the action.
“I love setting,” she said. “I like being able to run plays, and I’m setting up everyone else.
“I’m always the loudest person, always talking and stuff so setting was good for me because they’re the one that keeps the team up. My personality kind of fit it.”
McMenamin plans to continue playing volleyball at the collegiate level with several schools expressing interest in acquiring her talents. She has already visited Kutztown and Shippensburg and has several other possibilities as well.
“I want to stay close to home,” she said.
McMenamin plans to major in psychology with an interest in working with children. No matter what career path she chooses, volleyball will always be a part of it.
“Even after college, I’m going to find some league somewhere and keep playing,” she said. “I’m going to be one of those old ladies down the street in the park playing volleyball with my brother.”
For now, the tables are turned just a bit with her older sibling. Brian, a defensive specialist for most of his career, was thrust into the setter’s role last year.
“For once I had a chance to teach him,” Kelli said. “We learn from each other a lot.”
And so far, it’s been a win-win for both siblings.
