Senior Spotlight: McKinney hungry to get back on the court

Chris McKinney loved his Pennridge experience.
“It is a team where the hard work you put in truly does show and pay off. It is the best experience to play with a bunch of other passionate players that care about the game and find fun in competition,” the senior said.
Playing at opposite hitter for the Rams, McKinney thrived on the court. This past spring was to be his best yet.
“My personal goal for the year was just to be a consistent player that could be counted on. The last two years, I always performed much better during playoffs than I did during the regular season and knew I needed to be consistent throughout the entire season to be successful,” he said. “Additionally, I had been getting much more comfortable with my jump serve and I had it as a goal to make it into more of an attack opportunity rather than a serve into play.”
He and the Rams attacked the offseason. They came into the spring with big goals in mind.
“Having played on a club team with the majority of the team in the preseason,” he said, “I can tell you this was the hardest part about the season being cancelled. “I have strengthened many friendships and made so many new friends on the team that it is so hard to rationalize that I won’t ever be able to play with them again wearing a Pennridge jersey. I know all of them are just as disappointed as I am about this season, but I also know that we have many reliable juniors and even sophomores for next year and I will be excited to watch them play.”
Despite this year being wiped out due to the shutdown, this group of Rams grew tremendously on the court over the years.
“As a team, we took a more game-by-game goal approach to the season,” McKinney said. “Of course, the goal is obviously to make it into playoffs and do well. “However, we as a team felt it would be more beneficial to focus on certain, specific aspects of how the team played to get better.
“In the time that we did have to practice this spring, our serving and hitting was impressive so we all agreed it would be better to focus a lot of time and effort into serve receive.”
Family affair >> McKinney had some company the court.
“I have been practicing with my younger brother, Thomas, who was going to be playing for the Pennridge JV team this year as a freshman,” McKinney said of recent weeks. “It is nice to have somebody else in my family that has a passion for the game because it allows me to socially distance from others outside my family while still playing the game.”
For the Rams, there was a certain bond that developed over time.
“I like how social it can be and the varying levels it can be played at,” McKinney said of the sport. “Whether it be a casual league or a national club team, you will always find people with a passion to play and learn the game.
“With the amount of Pennridge men’s volleyball alumni I see come back to help the program really makes me believe that this is a sport I can be involved in through college at the level I want to be and beyond.”
Raising his game >> McKinney found different ways to develop his game his even further.
“The biggest way was just by increasing the level of play and playing more. As a junior, I joined a club team that competed at national tournaments and I was playing with a bunch of seniors that had much more experience with club-level play,” he said. “While it was certainly challenging at times, it improved a lot of aspects in my performance.
“When I decided to not compete at that level the fall of my senior year, I still made sure I got in my practice with a local club so I could continue to improve.”
Said coach Dave Childs: “Chris was one of the top all-around players in the area.”
Asked how he kept busy during the shutdown, McKinney said: “I have had an interest in computer programming and the shutdown has definitely given me some more time to work on programming projects. Aside from that, I also do my best to stay in contact with my friends and teammates by playing Xbox online with them and just enjoying the rest that senior year has to offer me.”
McKinney is just beginning his volleyball experience.
“I do plan to continue playing when I am at Penn State,” he said. “I will be at the University Park campus and plan to try out for the club teams there.
“I also know some teammates from previous years that go to Penn State now. They also have recreational teams there so I will see if I can get involved with that.”