Buffalo Wild Wings August 2017 Coach of the Month: Rob Moy, Atholton Volleyball

Rob Moy, who coached the Atholton High School volleyball team from Howard County to the MPSSAA Class 3A state championship in 2016, is the County Sports Zone/Buffalo Wild Wings Coach of the Month for August!

Coach Moy became interested in volleyball during college when he took classes that taught the sport. He began to play on club teams, and after some time, was approached about coaching.

That initial conversation has led to a long career that's seen Coach Moy at a lot of different high schools in Maryland, including Wilde Lake, Centennial, Long Reach and even at the collegiate level for Goucher College in Baltimore.

"I love volleyball, and fell in love with the coaching aspect of it," Coach Moy said. "Here at Atholton, I think I've got the best support I've ever had. The parents and fans are so supportive, and the kids are absolutely fantastic."

This year will be Coach Moy's fifth at Atholton. The team has seen steady improvement throughout his tenure, which started with a one-win campaign his first season in charge.

Last year was a banner year for Atholton, as the group went 15-4 and won both the MPSSAA 3A East championship and state title. It was the first state title for the program since 1989.

The Raiders did all this despite fielding a small team - Atholton had just nine players on its roster for the majority of the season.

"Even though we didn't have many players, we bonded and worked so well together that we could accomplish anything," senior middle hitter Kelly Simons said.

To his players, Coach Moy played a big part in the group meshing so well.

He sets a positive atmosphere for the Raiders, which the players find helps the team develop chemistry, and become better. His players also see Coach Moy as very approachable, and he doesn't mind it if the group propose different drills for the team to try.

"We all work together, and the players get to contribute to what we do in practice," junior outside hitter Lisa Zoch said. "He's definitely in charge, but he lets us give feedback so we can improve the drills we are running so we can find the best way to make it work for the team."

Looking ahead, Coach Moy has another strong group this year despite losing key players Samantha Miller and Hope Kelly to graduation. Though Atholton will have to contend with having a target on its back this season, Coach Moy said he is confident his team will do well.

"I'm more confident in our play. Last year I didn't know how good we'd be at the very start," Coach Moy said. "Any good team can beat any other good team on any given day if things fall your way. We just had a really good run at the end of the season - things fell into place for us and it was like the perfect storm. Hopefully we can peak at the right time again this year."

For being named County Sports Zone/Buffalo Wild Wings Coach of the Month, Coach Moy received a gift certificate, bottle of sauce, hat and t-shirt from Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as a County Sports Zone t-shirt.

If you'd like to make a nomination for next month's County Sports Zone/Buffalo Wild Wings Coach of The Month, click here.

Congratulations to Coach Moy!