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Matt McCarthy, who spent the previous nine seasons on the men’s volleyball staff at Lewis, was named associate head coach at Loyola University Chicago on June 4, 2018, and completed his third season with the Ramblers in 2021. In nine years at Lewis, the Wheaton native helped the Flyers to 196 victories, six 20-win seasons and three trips to the NCAA tournament.
In 2021, McCarthy helped the Ramblers navigate through a season played during the COVID-19 pandemic, guiding them to a 15-6 overall record and a runner-up finish in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular-season standings. Loyola closed the season ranked No. 10 in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Poll and McCarthy aided in the AVCA Honorable Mention All-America seasons put up by Cole Schlothauer and Garrett Zolg and in the development of Luke Denton into a First Team All-MIVA pick as well as one of the top players in the region.
The 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but a young Ramblers team was starting to find itself when the season was canceled in mid-March. Loyola won two of its final three outings of the year and McCarthy helped Schlothauer develop into a First Team All-MIVA selection, who also was tabbed MIVA Newcomer of the Year. In addition, senior middle blocker Kyle Piekarski continued to progress and in addition to ranking third in the nation with a .509 hitting percentage, also captured First Team All-MIVA recognition.
His Rambler tenure began with another 20-win season, as the former Ball State middle blocker assisted Loyola 21-8 overall record, including 12-2 conference clip to finish second the MIVA race. With McCarthy on staff, senior outside hitter Collin Mahan was named AVCA Second Team All-America, while teammates Avery Aylsworth, Paul Narup and Garrett Zolg also collected AVCA Honorable Mention All-America status. Zolg wound up ranked second in a nation with 10.86 assists per set, while Narup sat third in the country with a .451 hitting percentage.
“Matt has proven to be one of the best coaches in our game and we couldn’t be more excited to have him on our staff,” Loyola head coach Mark Hulse said. “He’s found success both as a coach and as a player and he has a true passion to learn, innovate and develop young men and volleyball players in a mission-driven environment.”
One of the top young coaches in the sport, McCarthy, who in 2015 was hailed as the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Assistant Coach of the Year, has helped develop 24 AVCA All-America selections and 44 All-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association student-athletes. In 2015, he played a key role in piloting Lewis to the NCAA championship match before falling to Loyola in an epic five-set thriller. With McCarthy on staff, Lewis never won fewer than 19 contests in a season and claimed at least a share of the MIVA regular season crown on three occasions.
The presence of McCarthy on the Flyers’ staff was vital to outside hitter Ryan Coenen’s rise and development to becoming one of the best pin-hitters in the nation. After a redshirt season n 2016, McCarthy’s work in the gym helped Coenen produce double-digit kills in 20 of 27 matches, including four with 20 or more kills. The hard work between the two paid off as Coenen was chosen as the AVCA Newcomer of the Year and was named to the AVCA All-America Second Team in 2017, while also collecting VolleyballMag.com Second Team All-America, MIVA Co-Freshman of the Year, Off the Block/Springback, Inc., Freshman All-America, MIVA All-Freshman Team and First Team All-MIVA recognition. The following year, McCarthy’s final season at Lewis, Coenen continued to flourish, taking home AVCA Second Team All-America accolades in addition to being named to Team USA for the Pan American Cup in Mexico.
In addition to his work at Lewis, McCarthy has also served as an assistant coach for the USA Junior National Team that competed at the World Championships in the Czech Republic and he also has experience with USA Volleyball’s A3 and A1 Camps at the USA High Performance Championships. As a player, McCarthy was a member of the USA Men’s Junior National Team in 2005.
McCarthy graduated from Ball State, where he starred on the Cardinals squad, in 2009. The middle attacker was a two-time All-MIVA selection, twice ranking in the top ten in the nation in hitting percentage.
