New Coach, New Program

Matt Saint-Louis & Chandler Greene
​Sports Writers

Photo by Dave Ruden

Since Pete Georgiou took over the reigns as head coach in 2013, the McMahon program has done a full 360. Before taking over in 2013, McMahon struggled to win more than 5 games in a season and haven’t seen an FCIAC playoff appearance since 1986.

    Before coaching at McMahon, Georgiou was a long term substitute for the school and when  Athletic director Joe Madaffari took a chance on Pete he didn’t disappoint. Before accepting the job in 2013,( ) he was the girls head coach at St. Luke’s, where he coached for 3 seasons. As well as coaching McMahon girls volleyball, he is coaching boys volleyball in the spring at Greenwich High. There’s a significant difference in boys and girls volleyball, however, it is something that Georgiou has shown he can handle.  “The difference between coaching boys and girls is that boys are more power while the girls are more basic, fundamentally, sound,” says Georgiou.

    Since taking over at McMahon, the team has not seen an early ending season. In 2013 and 2014, McMahon was able to notch 8 wins and qualify for the LL State tournament. In 2015, Georgiou was able to coach the team to their first FCIAC playoff berth in 29 years. McMahon posted a 16-4 mark and was regarded highly in the state. However, Pete feels this year’s team has something that last year didn’t. Something special that could lead them to accomplish even more than they did last season.

    “These last two years at McMahon have been both power volleyball and fundamental transitions and fundamentally sound volleyball, giving the team a good balance.” Coach also says that the depth of this year’s team is much deeper than last season. Coach and the team hope that these factors can allow them to achieve more than they did last season and they have the whole school behind them.

    So far, McMahon has notched a 10-1 record in regular season play, 7-1 in FCIAC play. They suffered one loss this season to Ridgefield, but put that behind them, going on to win 4 straight, beating Weston, Bridgeport Central, Trinity Catholic, and Kolbe Cathedral. They have been recognized for their success and were recently ranked 14th in the state according to Maxpreps and 10th in the state according to Connecticut Coaches Poll. They look to continue this streak this week as they take on Staples on Thursday the 14th, and St. Joe’s Friday the 15th.

    McMahon, with the help of Pete Georgiou, took the program and turned it around completely. McMahon Volleyball was a program in the dirt for years. But now, with the whole school supported behind them, Pete and the team have a chance to do even better than last year, and fulfill their championship aspirations. ​