Joe McCarthy Is Edison’s Head-Banger on the Volleyball Court

Volleyball season was barely two weeks old at Edison High School when Joe McCarthy had a problem.

It seems he and his friends had each paid $130 for front-row seats to the Iron Maiden heavy-metal rock concert in Long Beach. But the concert conflicted with an Edison practice, leaving McCarthy with a choice.

Should I stay or should I go?

McCarthy meekly approached Tim Wetzel, the Chargers’ first-year coach, with hopes for a compromise.

“Uh, Coach, can I take off early?” McCarthy asked.

“What, you have to go to work or something?” Wetzel growled.

“Uh, no, an Iron Maiden concert,” was McCarthy’s answer.

Wetzel thought for a moment. McCarthy, a student with a 4.25 grade-point average, has his priorities straight. And, after all, 130 bucks is a lot of cash to a 17-year-old.

So Wetzel, finding a soft spot in his heart for heavy metal, cut his outside hitter a break.

“Go ahead,” he told McCarthy. “But be ready to practice Saturday at 8 a.m.”

Edison’s practices and prematch warm-ups have sounded like an Iron Maiden concert the past two years. McCarthy, the connoisseur of fine head-banging music, plays the tunes on the loudspeaker at most home matches.

“I have a couple of superstitions I follow before every match,” McCarthy said. “One is to wear my Iron Maiden T-shirt during warm-ups. The other is to listen to (the Iron Maiden song) ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ before we play.”

The music seems to be good motivation. McCarthy, a 5-foot-11 junior, is a two-year varsity starter and played for the Chargers’ Southern Section 4-A runner-up team last year.

He will be in the starting lineup today when defending-champion Edison competes in the UCLA Tournament of Champions at Pauley Pavilion. The 55-team, pool-play tournament begins at 9 a.m. with the finals scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

“Winning the tournament last year gave us a boost going into the last half of the season,” McCarthy said. “We had a lot of momentum going.”

McCarthy was a sophomore starter on a team dominated by seniors Aaron Boone (now at USC), Karl Van Reusen (Cal State Long Beach) and Steve Snyder (Cal State Northridge) and middle blocker Daryl Ayers.

“Last year’s team was notorious for popping off,” McCarthy said. “We’re more mellow this year.

“But last year’s team was a lot of fun. The seniors expected a lot out of me, even though I was a sophomore.”

Wetzel expected even more from McCarthy after Wetzel replaced Brian Rofer, who resigned as coach to become an assistant men’s volleyball coach at UCLA.

So far, McCarthy has delivered. He is averaging six kills a game for the Chargers (8-3), ranked sixth in Orange County.

“He’s definitely the team leader,” Wetzel said. “He sets a good example as a person and player.”

“His attitude on life is as good as it can be. He’s a great hitter, but we might have to make him a setter next year because of his size. That would be one way he could get in.”

McCarthy has been contacted by coaches at Stanford, which, he says, is the perfect mix of academics and volleyball.

At Edison, McCarthy has taken honors English, history and French courses. He’s preparing to take his college entrance exams.

“I’m looking to go somewhere that I can play,” McCarthy said. “But I also want to go somewhere that’s recognized for academics.

“I’ve spent a lot more time studying the last few years than playing volleyball. I realize I’m not very tall, but I’m hoping a college has a spot for someone who’s not 6-8.”

Life is full of options for McCarthy. He’s considering following in the footsteps of his father, Bill, an eye surgeon, or one of his older brothers, Bill, a UCLA graduate and a commodities trader in Chicago.

“I might go to medical school like my dad,” McCarthy said. “But I might become a commodities trader like my brother. That sounds like a great job. You can come and go as you like.”

McCarthy’s other older brother, Ed, got him started in volleyball. McCarthy would watch pickup games with Ed, who played at Edison and is now a student at Cal State Chico, and his friend, Joe Graham, now an Edison assistant volleyball coach.

“One day, Joe started smacking the ball at me and I started hitting it back,” McCarthy said. “I was only in the fourth grade.”

A good all-round athlete, McCarthy began playing organized volleyball as a seventh-grader, and joined the Balboa Bay Club team the next year. He played on the club’s 16-and-under team that won the national championship last summer.

Like his schoolwork, volleyball is something McCarthy takes seriously. He shows little, if any, emotion when playing.

“I’m at my best when I’m not very excited,” McCarthy said. “If I don’t smile, that usually means things are going pretty good in a match.”

Wetzel said McCarthy “has a strong mental game.”

As for his love for heavy metal music?

“Let’s just say he has some interesting tastes in music,” Wetzel said.