Freeport’s Tom Phillips goes from teenage race car driver to Alle-Kiski Sports Hall of Fame volleyball coach

By: Mark Nitowski
Saturday, April 8, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Tom Phillips’ road to becoming one of the most accomplished volleyball coaches in WPIAL history began — oddly enough — on the race track at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver.

“I was a dirt track race car driver for 15 years,” Phillips said. “I started at 17 (years old) as a senior in high school and really thought that would be my forte in sports. I was track champion at Lernerville for three years in a row. It was my life, and it consumed me.”

Phillips said he gave up racing when he was starting a family and building a new home in Sarver. He then began playing coed volleyball with his wife, moved to a men’s travel team and eventually was asked to interview for the Freeport girls varsity coaching job.

Now heading into his 23rd year at the Freeport helm, Phillips’ teams have won 18 consecutive section titles and seven WPIAL crowns with four WPIAL runner-up finishes. The Yellowjackets also have captured two PIAA championships, including last year’s Class 2A title.

For his achievements on the volleyball court, Phillips will be among 10 honorees scheduled for induction into the Alle-Kiski Sports Hall of Fame on May 20 at The Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Harmar.

“I said from the get-go that I would stay with it until I wasn’t having fun anymore. I’m going on 23 years, and I’m still having fun,” said Phillips, a retired steelworker with Allegheny Technologies Inc.

The A-K Hall of Fame ceremony will conclude a busy stretch for the long-time Yellowjackets coach. Later this month, he’ll travel with the 2022 state championship team to be recognized by state lawmakers in Harrisburg. Phillips then will be inducted into the Armstrong Sports Hall of Fame on April 30.

“It’s a great honor being inducted into both the A-K and Armstrong halls in the same year,” he said. “I’m a Freeport boy through and through. I graduated from Freeport, and I bleed blue and gold.”

Before accepting the varsity job at his alma mater, Phillips said one of his stipulations was that he also coach the school’s middle school team — a position he still holds today.

“With any volleyball or sports program, you have to build a foundation,” he said. “I enjoy coaching middle school because we can mold the players into what we want them to be. They work hard, and that’s why the middle school program has been very successful.”

At Freeport, success in middle school certainly has bred success at the varsity level. Last season, three Yellowjackets players were all-state selections and nine girls received all-section honors, Phillips pointed out.

“We’ve been blessed at Freeport to have some really great athletes and kids who come in and say, ‘I want to be the next person who’s an all-state player,’ ” he said. “Once you teach kids how to win, they accept nothing else.”

Even with a wealth of talented players, Phillips admits to being a bit superstitious, especially when it comes to his yellow Nike hat.

“It’s always been my lucky hat, and I have a special place in my house where I store it,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve worn the same socks the two times we’ve won the state championship. I won’t wear those socks anywhere else except for the state championships.”

Superstitions aside, Phillips singled out the support he receives from his family, including his wife, Jamie, son, Jerrod, and stepson, Tony Corso.

“My wife has been a mainstay of the program,” he said. “She’s been everything from volunteer assistant to JV coach. Jerrod and Tony have both been assistant coaches for me. It’s been a family thing for a lot of years. They’ve been great helpers.”

After winning the 2022 state title, Phillips said Jamie asked if it might be the perfect time to retire from his coaching duties.

“I told her what I’ve said from the very beginning: ‘as long as I’m having fun, I want to stay with it,’ ” Phillips said.

Students to be honored

The list of student honorees is now complete for the 52nd Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame banquet.

Receiving the Trib Total Media student awards are:

• Nick Curci, Apollo-Ridge, Valley News Dispatch offensive football player of the year

• Jacksen Reiser, Freeport, VND defensive football player of the year

• Ryan Hanes, Deer Lakes, VND boys soccer player of the year

• Kaitlyn Killinger, Plum, VND girls soccer player of the year

• Cooper Hornack, Burrell, PIAA Class 2A wrestling champion, 127 pounds

• Parker Sterlitz, Kiski Area, PIAA Class 2A swimming champion, 500 freestyle

• Bryce Robson, Deer Lakes, VND boys basketball player of the year

• Julie Spinelli, St. Joseph, VND girls basketball player of the year

Cager Classic MVPs will also be recognized by Trib Total Media.

• Jimmy Kunst, Highlands, boys West MVP

• Rvan Porch, Butler, boys East MVP

• Claire Rodgers, Hampton, girls West MVP

• Olivia Donnelly, Mars, girls East MVP

Also, the Allegheny County Labor Council Courage Award will go to Andrew Gratzmiller, a Burrell special needs student who has been part of the Bucs football program.

The 10 inductees who will bring the hall’s membership to 385 are:

• Erin Exler Bish, Springdale and Geneva College softball

• Joseph Galli, Valley and North Carolina wrestling

• Stefan Lundberg, Kiski Area, Duquesne and Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer

• Mark Lamendola, Leechburg and Allegheny College football

• Kerry McKinney Mills, Deer Lakes and Robert Morris track

• Tom Phillips, Freeport volleyball

• Thomas Saulle, Freeport girls basketball

• Thomas Slosky, Highlands and Duquesne track and cross country

• Emily Alcorn Taylor, Riverview basketball

• R. Terry Thompson, Kittanning, Knoch and Clarion University basketball

If you go

52nd Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame banquet

When: 7 p.m. May 20

Where: Pittsburgh Shriners Center, Harmar

Tickets: $40

Contact: Larry Lutz 724-822-3695; Fred Soilis 412-736-1809; Bill Heasley 724-882-3079

Tags: Freeport