Boys athlete of the week
// The Post-Gazette’s top male performer from the past seven days
The past week: Feeley, a 6-3 senior outside hitter, had 13 kills in Montour’s 3-1 win against North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals May 23. Two days later, Feeley had 13 kills and five blocks for a point in Montour’s 3-2 win against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the championship match at the UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris University. It was the fourth WPIAL title for Montour and its first since 2007.
Check this out: Feeley was voted to the second team of the WPIAL Class 2A all-star team in 2021, his first year in Montour’s starting lineup. Last week, he was recognized on the first team.
How long have you been playing volleyball? I started playing as a freshman. My brother Sean played so I decided to give it a try. In 2011, Sean’s team played OLSH in the WPIAL semifinals and eventually placed second. [Current Montour] coach [Colin] Vitale played for OLSH that year, so he played against Sean in the semifinals.
Do you play any other sports? I played soccer the last two years. I was a midfielder both years.
Give us your thoughts on winning the WPIAL title. It’s a surreal feeling. We came in as underdogs after losing to OLSH twice in section play. We knew we could win. We all played the best game we ever played. And got an assist on the winning point, a kill by Nick Burik.
Tell us about your injury. In our first playoff match, I hit into a wall going after a ball and hurt my shoulder. I re-aggravated it during warm-ups [prior to the title match]. I had to have it taped and wear a brace. I had to come out of the match twice because I kept reinjuring it. It kept clicking around in my shoulder. It was frustrating, because I had to completely change my swing.
Tell us about your position change in the fourth set of the title match.
We were trailing, 2-1, in sets and fell behind 7-2 in the fourth set. We’re not as strong on the right side and OLSH was taking advantage of that. I asked our coaches if I could move to the right side to help our blocking and [coach Vitale] said they were thinking the same thing. The change really helped.
Will the shoulder injury keep you from playing in the PIAA playoffs? I saw an orthopedic surgeon and he said it’s probably a labrum injury. It’s not getting any better, but I plan on playing. I’ve got nothing to lose. After the season, I’ll have it checked out again.
Will you be playing volleyball in college? I’m going to Penn State and want to major in engineering. I plan on playing club ball and may try to walk on with the varsity team.