Girls volleyball: McHenry hires Alex Muschong as head coach

Alex Muschong, a 2017 Woodstock graduate, had no intention of leaving her position as the head coach at Harvard.

But when the same position became available at McHenry, she was more than intrigued.

“When I started my [coaching] career, I had said from the beginning there are three schools that I would move for, and McHenry happened to be one of them,” said Muschong, who coached at Harvard for two years. “So I just happened to be scrolling on the internet one day and saw they had an opening. I had no plans on moving schools or anything like that.

“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

For Muschong, it was meant to be.

McHenry athletic director Chris Madson recently announced Muschong as the next Warriors’ coach. She takes over for Kyle Hobson, who was the team’s interim head coach last year after former coach Hilary Agnello left for a dean’s job at Crystal Lake South late in the summer. Agnello is now the head coach at Prairie Ridge after Stefanie Otto announced her retirement after 27 seasons.

McHenry went 21-16 last year and tied for eighth in the Fox Valley Conference. The Warriors enter the year looking for their first regional title since 1997.

Madson thinks Muschong, who played at McKendree University in Lebanon as a middle blocker, is a perfect fit for the job.

“We started the search right after the season ended,” Madson said. “We had it open for a good amount of time. Alex’s name kind of came to the top of our list. She’s really been proving herself as a younger coach the last couple of years.

“It’s really nice to have that young passionate coach who also has a few years of experience at the varsity level. We’re really excited for her to get started. She has that drive and hunger. At the same time, she is mature beyond her years.”

“It sounds like they’ve had a lot of coaches come through, so I’m really excited to get in there and start creating a culture and program that is going to go far.”

—  Alex Muschong, McHenry volleyball coach

Muschong, who teaches special education at Harvard Junior High and also coaches at Top Flight Volleyball in Elgin, is excited to be a part of the FVC again. Woodstock was a member of the FVC during her first three years of high school as a player before joining the Kishwaukee River Conference her senior year.

“That was the conference everybody wanted to be a part of,” Muschong said. “It was like the Big Ten for high school. I’m just really excited to meet the girls. It sounds like they’ve had a lot of coaches come through. I’m really excited to get in there and start creating a culture and program that is going to go far.

“I’m hoping we can continue to grow the program and get a lot more people in there.”

Muschong and the Warriors start summer camp next week. She hopes to be a positive influence while also helping the program reach new heights. McHenry will need to replace the offense lost by the graduation of Mollie Hobson and Ella Boland, two of the area’s top attackers from last season.

“The biggest thing I’ve realized as a coach is it’s more than just volleyball,” Muschong said. “There’s a bigger lesson to learn at the end of the day. I want to teach young girls confidence, being brave and just put those positive affirmations into their lives, and hopefully they can carry that on for the rest of their lives.

“I’m just really excited to start. The sooner I can get into the gym, the better.”