Megan O’Rourke has been around the game of volleyball for over a decade, having played and coached since her high school days in New Jersey. 
She jump started her coaching career as a sophomore in high school by assisting with youth camps and clinics before being recruited to play for Montclair State University in New Jersey, where she spent three years playing until COVID cut her college career short. 
After coaching at the high school and club level post-college in New Jersey, O’Rourke made the move to Murfreesboro for graduate school at Middle Tennessee State University while also coaching the 16U team for Alliance Murfreesboro.
Through that opportunity she heard about Cascade’s volleyball opening and after an interview and some conversations with the administration, she was hired as the head coach. 
“For me to be a head coach at the high school level is definitely a challenge, but I’m really excited to be here and see where we can go with this program,” O’Rourke said.
“My expectation is to take this first year as a rebuilding year and get back to the basics of the game. Basically just reteaching them how to play volleyball up to my standards. I think coming here as a first-year coach is a great opportunity to do that with this program, and I think we can be successful with the mechanics that I bring to the table. ”
In her years of playing and coaching, O’Rourke spent time around the USA Women’s Volleyball team as both a player and coach, and she plans on bringing those tactics with her to Cascade. 
“Although the program is new, I feel like it’s the perfect place for me to jump in because my style of volleyball is more of the USA technique and mechanics, and that isn’t really in Tennessee yet. I’ve worked closely with personnel directly associated with the USA Women’s volleyball team both as a player and a coach, so it’s pretty cool to be able to bring that to Cascade,” O’Rourke said.
“I looked at this job more as how I could help the program rather than where the program is at currently – kind of taking the program where it is and developing it from there.” 
While building up Cascade’s relatively new volleyball program is O’Rourke’s main objective, she also wants to grow the game throughout the community by putting on youth camps and clinics similar to what she ran when she got started in the sport. 
“Volleyball isn’t as well-known down here as it is where I’m from, so I really love the idea of building up the program for the school, but also for the community by having youth camps and things of that nature that aren’t typically in this area,” O’Rourke said.
“I want to bring that to girls in the area, and maybe even have some boys teams eventually down the road.”
With a full summer ahead to prepare for the upcoming season, O’Rourke is excited to work with the players on the team, and get them back to the basics of playing volleyball. 
“With my experience and being relatively fresh out of my playing days, I can relate really well to the girls on the team. I was the quiet kid that didn’t say a word, and I didn’t find a voice until I got into college,” O’Rourke said.
“So relating to the girls on a more personal level will be really good for the mental part of the game, but using the fundamentals will be really fun to show them how I want them to play volleyball.”