MP grad coaches Kennedy volleyball team to regional finals

CEDAR RAPIDS - Mt. Pleasant's high school team might be out of the regional tournament, but that doesn't necessarily mean a Panther won't be competing at the state volleyball tournament in 2019.

Robin Fonch, a 1996 graduate of Mt. Pleasant, will be coaching the Kennedy Cougars in the Class 5A regional finals tonight (Monday).

Kennedy (18-16), currently ranked No. 12 in Class 5A, will hti the road to play No. 4 Ankeny (34-5).

'I think we were pretty under-the-radar this year,” Fonck says. 'Which is kind of cool because then people get to realize how good you are.”

Kennedy started the season unranked but have raised some eyebrows with their play this season.

Fonck played volleyball under Coach Jennifer Kerr, now Jennifer Kohorst, who still teaches at Mt. Pleasant. Although she didn't play in college, Fonck says she stayed involved in the sport.

After getting married and having kids, Fonck got into the club volleyball scene in Cedar Rapids when she turned 28. This is her 10th year at Kennedy, but her first as a head coach. Michelle Goodall stopped coaching the Cougars last year and is now involved with Team USA volleyball.

Fonck says she's had a fun first year learning the ins-and-outs of being a head coach, although she says it was a little overwhelming at first. She seems to have gotten the hang of it though, as her Cougars are one-game away from the promise land.

'I have a really swell group this year, and a lot of them have been playing together for a long time,” Fonck says. 'When we started talking about goals at the beginning of the season, they said, ‘We really want to go to state.'”

Kennedy will be playing Ankeny on Ankeny's home court. That game begins at 7 p.m.