Pine-Richland’s new coach eager

Peter Mathis has two college degrees and is close to completing a third, but his true passion is the sport of volleyball.

Mathis, a graduate of Penfield High School in New York, has taken over as head coach at Pine-Richland High School.

“I was Dave Neely's JV coach in 2012 when he took over as head coach,” Mathis said. “I took the last two years off to go back to school. When I heard Dave had stepped down, I applied for the job.”

Mathis has a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Kent State University, a master’s degree in leadership from George Mason University in Virginia, and is currently working on a doctorate of education degree at Duquesne University.

“I am working on my dissertation now,” Mathis said. “My hope is to graduate this summer.”

Mathis does have previous coaching experience, but this is his first year as a varsity head coach.

“I lived in Washington D.C. for five years and was a JV coach at a high school during that stretch,” Mathis said. “I also coached club ball during that time.”

Mathis met his wife during his stay in D.C.

“My wife [the former Shannon Brady] went to North Hills High School,” said Mathis, who is currently working at Environmental Charter School in Point Breeze. “We moved here four years ago.”

Mathis' previous year of coaching at Pine-Richland helped with the transition during the change of coaches.

“The seniors on this squad were freshmen on my JV team in 2012, so I was familiar with some of the kids,” Mathis said. “The seniors have significantly improved since I coached them.”

Mathis and his squad have the challenging task of competing in the strongest section in the WPIAL. PineRichland entered the week with a 1-3 record in Section 2, which puts them sixth out of the seven teams.

Despite the slow start, Pine-Richland is No. 10 in the WPIAL Class AAA rankings, behind four other teams from Section 2.

Mathis has installed new offensive and defensive gameplans, but feels the most important thing is to get the kids interested in volleyball much younger.

“We don't have a middle school program,” Mathis said. “That's my major goal for the program. We need to have a feeder system.”

Mathis is using a nineplayer rotation for the varsity squad, which includes four seniors, 6-foot-2 outside hitter Tommy Barone, 5-10 back-row specialist Joe Clark, 5-10 middle hitter Randall Abuyo and 6-2 middle hitter Zac Ketchel. All four were members of last year's varsity squad.

“Tommy is one of our top hitters,” Mathis said. “Randall and Zac are undersized middles, but both have been consistent.”

Lance Todorowski, a 6-0 setter, is one of three sophomores in the starting rotation.

"It's exciting to have a sophomore setter and know that we will have consistency at that position for two more years," Mathis said.

The other four players in the Rams starting rotation are 6-2 junior outside hitter James Kozej, 5-8 sophomore back-row specialist Drew Neverett, 5-10 junior opposite Mike Pohlod and 6-1 sophomore opposite Sam Vidic.

Pine-Richland lost a 3-1 decision at North Allegheny Tuesday and had a bye on Thursday.

The Rams play Allderdice in a non-league match today and are entered in the Fox Chapel Tournament Saturday. They conclude the first half of section play against Shaler Area next Tuesday.

“Our goal is to get better every day and try to take advantage of any weaknesses we can find in our opponents,” Mathis said. “We may be off to a slow start, but I truly believe we can get back into the playoff race in the second half.”