Hanover —
A former player at Keene High and Nashua’s Rivier University, Dudek took over the Marauders’ head job this year after the team’s inaugural coach, Amy Carney, stepped down following a decade on the sideline.
Dudek moved to the area two years ago to take a job at Lebanon Middle School, where she teaches sixth-grade language arts. The career move didn’t stop her from coaching at Keene, a post she occupied for five years. If Carney hadn’t vacated the Hanover job, Dudek would still be hitting the long road after school dismissal.
Although the commute was admittedly grueling, Dudek “was still going to stay at Keene, and when this job opened up, I kind of jumped on it,” she said on Thursday night after her new crew dropped a 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 decision to John Stark at Hanover High. “I figured it was closer, and it would work better.”
The coach played at Keene before logging three seasons for the Rivier Raiders. She completed college a year early — not because of a major injury at the outset of her junior campaign, but to pursue a calling instead.
“I was just ready to be a teacher,” Dudek said. “I knew I wanted to teach.”
Dudek caught the coaching bug before her collegiate studies were concluded. About two weeks after she got injured, she began coaching a local club team, then moved home after graduation.
“The Keene job was open, and I was like. ‘This is a perfect fit,’ ” she said. “I became a varsity coach at a really young age (20 years old).”
Senior captain Sophia Wheelan, an outside hitter, played for Carney, and now has become accustomed to Dudek.
“The program is kind of like (Carney’s) child,” Wheelan said. “And turning it over was really interesting. It was a long process to figure out who our new coach was going to be.”
Wheelan, who knew “Coach Meg” previously through the Granite State Games and Junior Olympic League, said the familiarity helped ease the transition. The senior seems to like what she’s seen so far.
“I think she’s done a great job with program,” Wheelan said. “It’s kind of tough coming in here not knowing what you’re getting. It’s been good so far.”
Dudek described herself as a laid-back coach, a notion Wheelan echoed: “She doesn’t yell unless she has to,” Wheelan said.
“I try to be well-versed,” Dudek said. “The ones who want me to be hard on them, I try to be hard on them. The ones who want more compassion, I can do that, but just positivity, making sure that they’re enjoying it, because if they’re not enjoying it, there’s no reason to be here.”
Hanover (3-4) played hard on Thursday, but its effort wasn’t enough to slow the Generals, who improved to 5-2. The Marauders made an attempt at pushing the contest to a fourth set when they put together a 4-0 run.
The string of points began with a block by Lauren Gemery. Sophia Baron then served twice, yielding errors by the guests, who called a timeout. Hanover scored once more following the stoppage before John Stark ended the run.
Hanover opened its season by falling to Coe-Brown in five sets before winning three consecutive matches. Thursday’s defeat was the Marauders’ third in a row.
Notes: Dudek said there are many Lebanon High players who would be interested in playing at the high school level. The Raiders don’t currently have a team, but Dudek said there have been discussions about a possible co-op with Hanover in the future. Dudek also plans to start a club team this spring, which she said should help integrate players from both schools. … Hanover currently keeps 14 players on varsity and 14 on JV. Next year a freshmen team is in the budget, according to Dudek. … The Marauders will return to action on Monday at Plymouth.