Cherish Pope

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Jamestown Community College has announced Forestville native Cherish Pope as the new head coach of Jayhawk volleyball.

“We’re delighted to have a new leader of our women’s volleyball team, one that has a long history of passion and commitment to the sport,” said Athletic Director George Sisson. “Cherish (Pope) joins JCC with an enthusiasm to guide the women’s volleyball team back to regional and national prominence. My staff and I are just as eager as she is to work on returning the green and gold to its glory days.”

“I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to share my knowledge of a game I love with the current and future Jayhawk volleyball players,” Pope said. “We are going to get back to the basics. We need to implement a hard work ethic. We will condition hard and work hard, and that will be the foundation of our success.”

Pope has more than 20 years of experience in the game of volleyball. She was a four-year captain for the Forestville Hornets, where she earned all-Section VI honors in 2012. After high school, she played volleyball for the Fredonia State University club team and has stayed in the game through various rec leagues.

“It was a rather easy choice for us to hire (Pope),” Sisson said. “You could tell from the minute we spoke during her interview that she has an infectious love for the game that is very important at the junior college level.”

“I believe that my knowledge of the game will help the JCC student-athletes excel and achieve more. We’re going to focus on clearly defined goals and strategies for achieving them,” Pope added. “If I make our objectives clear, we can productively work together towards success rather than going through the motions of showing up every day.”

That early dedication to having clearly defined missions for her Jayhawks was obvious in Pope’s details in her notebook full of ideas before she even accepted the position.

“It is important to me to hit the ground running,” she said. “I want to already get these women in the gym before they leave for their summer break. In a perfect world, we’d even be able to work together during the summer months.”

As far as the type of people, not just student-athletes, Pope wants to foster, her goals are obvious.

“I want to build their character, not just their volleyball skill,” she said. “A coach in high school sat me down to talk about character, and I want to share that, too. He said, ‘Who you are when no one is watching is who you truly are,’ and that is something I want to instill in them.”

Those traits from Pope weren’t just limited to the volleyball court. She was also on the Hornets’ basketball and softball teams. On the diamond, was an all-Western New York second team. She even used those softball skills to become a volunteer assistant for her alma mater.

Pope is also a mainstay on the local volleyball scene, which will come in handy with recruiting.

“I am very familiar with a lot of the local tournaments and teams,” she said. “I have a great relationship with the local coaches and will attack local volleyball and expand from there.”

Pope looks to get to work filling out her roster and practice schedule as soon as possible.

The 2025 Jayhawks’ volleyball season begins in August.