Ellen Toy’s volleyball legacy lives on with A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction

By: Mark Nitowski
Saturday, April 20, 2024 | 11:01 AM

From Kiski Area to Pitt and back to the Alle-Kiski Valley, Ellen Mangus Toy picked the brain of multiple mentors on the volleyball court.

After her playing days, Toy passed along that extensive knowledge to her high school players during a longtime coaching career at Plum, Leechburg and Kiski Area.

“She took little bits from all the people who coached her and put them into play with her own teams,” said Tim Toy, Ellen’s husband. “She wasn’t a taskmaster. She was a players’ coach. She loved her kids. She took to helping them not just to be better players, but to be better people.”

A 1979 Kiski Area graduate, Toy died in 2016 at the age of 54 after a battle with cancer. For her contributions to local volleyball on and off the court, she will be inducted posthumously into the A-K Sports Hall of Fame on May 4 at the Pittsburgh Shriners Center in Harmar.

“It’s nice that she’s going in with some other Kiski people,” said Tim, noting that former Cavalier standouts Tony Recchia and Melissa Baustert Schaeffer are part of the A-K Hall’s Class of 2024. “She respected all of the people who she knew that are being inducted.”

At Kiski Area, Toy received all-WPIAL volleyball honors as a junior and senior. She then headed to Pitt on a scholarship.

“Ellen could do almost anything on the court,” Tim said. “She played every position in high school. She was a middle hitter when they needed someone in the middle and a setter when they needed someone to set. She was recruited to Pitt as an outside hitter. As a freshman, the setter was injured, and Ellen took over as setter for a bit. She wasn’t an overly tall player, and I think that’s why she learned to do everything.”

While a sophomore in college, Tim said Ellen became involved in coaching under unique circumstances. At the time, she was sidelined for the Pitt season after foot surgery. The Panthers were hosting an exhibition match between Norwin and North Allegheny. Because of a teachers’ strike, a school administrator was coaching the Norwin squad. Toy stepped in to help coach the Knights and then was asked by the administrator to stay on until the strike was settled. Norwin went on to capture the WPIAL championship.

“She was a 20-year-old coaching a high school team,” Tim said.

Toy got back into coaching while student teaching at Plum during her senior year. She served as an assistant boys coach from 1982-88. Toy also took over as girls head coach in 1983 and led Plum to the PIAA championship in her first year at the helm.

“It was a wild, improbable ride,” Tim said. “Plum barely qualified for the state tournament. They were such great kids who really worked hard in the gym, and they came out of nowhere to become state champs.”

Out of college, Toy worked at what was then Allegheny Ludlum Steel.

“At that time, there were no teaching positions available,” Tim said.

Toy eventually landed a teaching job at Leechburg, with a stipulation: She would start a girls volleyball program at the school. She coached the Blue Devils from 1992-2006 before moving to Kiski Area.

“She had a few opportunities to coach at Kiski Area, but she was still building the Leechburg program,” Tim said. “When the Kiski job opened again (in 2007), she felt it was the right time to go back and coach at her alma mater.”

Unfortunately, Toy battled cancer during her coaching tenure with the Cavaliers. She missed the 2010 season when she was first diagnosed, but returned for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Toy resigned in 2013 to fight the disease for a second time. She came back in 2014, but decided to retire after that season.

“After the third diagnosis, we realized that the future was rather unsure,” Tim said. “Ellen still wanted to have a positive effect on the volleyball community in our area. She had experienced kids at both Kiski and Leechburg who wanted to play club volleyball, but their family couldn’t afford it. So we decided to start a foundation.”

In 2015, Ellen and Tim Toy founded the nonprofit We Serve First Foundation to assist young players with financial difficulties achieve success on the volleyball court and in the classroom. Tim said the organization has helped about 130 individuals compete at the club volleyball level or attend clinics.

“The need is great and I’m approached constantly with opportunities to help,” he said. “We haven’t said ‘no’ yet.”

Toy has found other avenues to support local volleyball while ensuring his late wife’s legacy.

We Serve First funded a grass volleyball court — named in honor of Ellen Toy in 2021 — at Kennedy Park in Vandergrift. Weather permitting, Kiski Area and Norwin have kicked off their girls high school season with a match on the grass court.

Two years ago, Toy started a high school all-star classic, similar to the A-K Cager Classic basketball event. Forty of the top seniors in the area are selected for the classic. The players practice Friday night, then coaches draft teams for the all-star matchup Saturday at Kiski Area.

“At the last classic, I asked the kids at practice if they knew who Ellen was, and none of them did. It’s been eight years (since she passed), and I guess that’s just the realization that we’ve come to,” Tim said. “But I think Ellen’s coaching tree will go on forever. The coaches that coached Ellen are the roots, and she’s the trunk of the tree. Her players are the branches. Some of them will go on to coach, which means that Ellen’s legacy will live on in them and their players.”

Tim will accept Ellen’s induction. He said he has spoken on her behalf at similar recognition events and admits it’s never easy.

“As time passes, I look at it as an opportunity to tell Ellen’s story to people who might not have known her,” he said. “When you learn a little more about what Ellen brought to the world, I think you realize that she’s the perfect person to be represented in a half of fame.”

If you’re going

What: 53rd A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction

When: 7 p.m., May 4

Where: Pittsburgh Shriners Center, Harmar

Tickets: $40 (Deadline to purchase tickets is April 27; none will be sold at the door.)

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

Tags: Kiski Area, Leechburg, Plum