Volleyball

Season: Fall
2025 Opening Date: TBD
Teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity, First Team, Club
Varsity Coach: Corey Huot

One of Thornton Academy’s newest varsity sports, volleyball is also one of its most popular. Thornton Academy sponsored its first volleyball program in 2012 when forty-four girls, many of whom were freshmen, competed on the first subvarsity-level teams.

Today Thornton Academy offers four volleyball teams and accommodates the interests of nearly seventy participants annually; no other high school in the state of Maine offers more teams in this sport than does Thornton. At this time, interscholastic volleyball in the state of Maine is open only to female participants.

The Thornton Academy volleyball program is open to student-athletes of all levels of ability and experience. For each of the school’s four teams, the focus is on learning the fundamental skills of the sport while incorporating practice in understanding tactical and team play. The Thornton volleyball program is also committed to serving the greater community and regularly conducts fundraising activities for various causes.

Despite its relatively short history, Thornton Academy volleyball has been highly competitive and plays against some of the top programs in the southern Maine region. In 2015, during its third year of existence, the Golden Trojans finished the regular season with a record of 12-2 and captured the Southwestern Maine Activities Association (SMAA) championship. Thornton Academy has made six appearances (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) in the Class A state championship tournament. The Golden Trojans won their first postseason match in 2018 with an exciting four-set victory over rival South Portland High School.

Thornton Academy volleyball players have earned a number of postseason accolades from SMAA coaches. Kylemore Austin was a two-time all-conference player and is now a standout collegiate volleyball player at the University of Southern Maine. Ashley Howe was selected as an SMAA all-star in all three seasons that she competed as a varsity player and is the only Thornton Academy player named to the Maine Sunday Telegram All-State Team (2015). Julia Chasse, Laura Fortier, Kiley Mackell, and Olivia Hand also earned all-conference recognition on multiple occasions.

All practices and matches take place at Linnell Gymnasium. The process for earning a slot on the varsity squad is typically quite competitive. However, students with less experience or who may be looking to improve their skills have an opportunity to participate on one of the school’s three subvarsity teams. The junior varsity team plays a schedule that mirrors that of the varsity. The first team consists primarily of freshman players and plays a mixture of contests against conference opponents and non-SMAA competition. The club team is designed to serve novice and recreational players and will play contests both intramurally and against some other schools.