"It all worked out well," says last year's NZ Under-20 representative who jets off to North Carolina in the United States on August 19. The 19-year-old, who is a classic example of how one doesn't necessarily have to gravitate to larger centres to make the cut, has won a scholarship to Mount Olives University to obtain a double degree in accounting and management while playing elite level college volleyball.
"Mum's proud of me but the time is coming too fast for her," says the outside hitter whose mother Andrea is the financial manager at Dannevirke hospital and is pivotal in supporting him.
Standing at 1.94m, Monaghan hopes to ply his trade in Europe after the "long process" of working through a Boston-based agent, Jessica Pullar, formerly of Christchurch, to win the scholarship.
National coach Sam Ryburn, of Christchurch, recommended the agency last year.
"I filmed my games last year and the agent put highlights together to send to colleges," he explains, delighted to be under Mt Olives coach David Heller who also is the US Universities' mentor for the men's team.
He gravitated to the US after his trip there in 2013 with the NZ U18s.
"That's when I got the idea to go there. It's very big there and a lot of people are involved."
Monaghan has bracketed making the New Zealand men's team within the next two to three years. A meat freezing worker at Takapau, he is indebted to Volleyball Hawke's Bay for its sponsorship over the years.
NBHS coach Alani Samia also receives plaudits.
"He pretty much taught me everything I know from ground up," he says of Samia who was his NZ U20 assistant coach last year.
"He's very knowledgeable."
A player who serves and hits from the left side and is partial towards the back middle, Monaghan requires myriad skills including jumping, passing, spiking hitting, blocking and swiping with "three rotations from the left".
"Volleyball is a lot more exciting [than other codes] and weather doesn't impact on the game."
Over the past few years, he has travelled from Dannevirke to Wellington, as often as he could, to play for his Eagles team who have qualified for the division one week-long tournament in Mt Maunganui. Monaghan has two younger brothers, Sean, 14, at NBHS who is into rugby and cricket, and Jamie, 8, of St Joseph's School in Dannevirke who plays rugby.
It remains to be seen if they'll catch the volleyball bug.
