St. Thomas More’s Kelly McClure on leading her team to win IHSA volleyball championship
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The High School of Saint Thomas More Lady Sabers won the Illinois High School Association Class 1A state volleyball championship in three sets in November of 2021. Head coach Kelly McClure has been with the team for four years now. She was an assistant coach her first year, and these last three years she has helmed the team as the head varsity coach.
From the start of the year, there was no doubt in Kelly’s mind that her girls could win.
“I believed this team was absolutely capable of winning a state championship, but we knew we had to go through the gauntlet of post season first,” she says.
The school year began with the team’s annual lake retreat at Lake of Egypt.
“We take this trip in August before the start of each season,” Kelly says. “It is a great time of fun and fellowship with one another.”
It was also the place where the team determined what they wanted to accomplish this year.
“[W]e made the goal of winning state, [and] we committed to giving our best to each other every day, every practice and every rep,” she says. “I was really proud of the way the team managed the weight of this goal.”
Even with the season’s biggest win in their sights, the team knew they couldn’t forget about how to get to that win.
“Our focus was preparing for the very next match that was in front of us and not looking ahead,” Kelly says.
That focus helped the team stayed clear-eyed during a challenging tournament on their way to the championship.
“In both the semifinal and championship match we lost the first set,” she says. “Our semifinal match versus Aquin [High School] was definitely the toughest team we faced all season long. They were well coached and experienced competitors.”
Losing the first set added to the tension of the match, but the Lady Sabers dug deep.
“It was a back-and-forth, intense battle,” Kelly says.
The Lady Sabers charged forward in that battle with a mix of older and younger players. The six seniors on the team “led by experience,” she says, “on and off the court throughout the entire season.” The underclassmen on the team also made big contributions all season long.
“It was the perfect combination,” Kelly says.
In the end, that combination of experience and excitement along with the deep commitment to the goals they’d set took them to the championship. Kelly’s excitement for the team shines as she talks about them.
“I was incredibly proud of the maturity our players showed as they competed for one another and the state championship goal we had set back in August,” she says. “This team was a joy to coach. They love this sport and each other deeply. I am incredibly God chose me to lead them on this journey.”
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