Sarah Rucker, the previous volleyball coach left Hillsboro High School, and for the first time in 12 years, the Hillsboro Volleyball team found themselves without a coach. The athletes could not have been more pleased to welcome Morgan Mammosser or Coach Morgan, as the team calls her, as the new volleyball coach for Hillsboro High School, hired right before the start of the 2023 season.

When teams get a new coach, there is usually an adjustment period where both the new coach and the players have to get used to each other, however, this adjustment period was very short and positive. The Hillsboro Globe interviewed Coach Morgan about her background and her hopes for the future of the Hillsboro volleyball program.

It is safe to say that Coach Morgan has a long volleyball coaching history according to her years of experience.

She started coaching at her mom’s volleyball games and helping to run summer events around the age of 15-16. At 17, she coached in Illinois at the No Limits volleyball club. Her first official job was at Kale University Waukesha Wisconsin, first as an assistant coach. Then she was the freshman coach at Kettle Moraine High School.

She moved from Wisconsin to Iowa where she was a freshman coach at Cedar Rapids Washington High School for a year until she became the head varsity coach at Linn-Mar High School. Next, she helped part-time with Coe College. All while balancing coaching at different volleyball clubs like MVP In Wisconsin and then Adrenaline in Iowa.

Coach Morgan received the head coaching job at a D2 school, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in Pennsylvania. This is what led her to our lovely Hillsboro High School.

Personally, Coach Morgan has had a lot of success both on and off the court. She was a two-year starter for the Sauk Valley Community College volleyball team and served as captain of the team her sophomore year. During her sophomore season, she led SVCC to its first conference title in 23 years and first-ever national tournament appearance. From SVCC she continues her athletic career at Illinois State University for her junior and senior years.

Off the court, Coach Morgan earned her undergraduate degree in Public Relations and went on to earn a Masters in Sports management and marketing from Liberty. University. She was named to the Dean’s List and an Academic All-Conference both years at LU. She also earned the President’s Award as a sophomore. Her volleyball experiences at the club, high school, junior college, D1, and D2 schools bring a unique set of skills and opportunities to both our athletic and academic communities here at Hillsboro.

Future goals for Hillsboro volleyball:

Coach Morgan’s goal this year is to win the 11AAA district championship and advance far in Regions 6AAA tournament play. Looking further into the future, she said, “I definitely want to make Hillsboro a reputable program in not only the county but also the state of Tennessee. I would love to have appearances at the state tournament. Just building us up to be one of the best volleyball programs here that Hillsboro has seen.”

From her own experiences, Coach Morgan told us that volleyball is not just about competition. She says that when you play a sport, you have a built-in friend group and support system and if you get a chance to watch a game, this is evident from the interactions of the players on the court. Coach Morgan is as concerned about transferable life skills as her volleyball technique. Developing into better volleyball athletes can be a challenge and Coach Morgan has given the team goals that can help each individual player push herself to a high level of play both on and off the court.