Beaver County Christian
Coach: Christen Adels (15th year)
Returning Starters:
5-6 senior setter Judi McChesney
5-7 junior outside hitter Maggie Townsend
5-5 senior defensive specialist Sarah Duncan
Season Outlook:
Judi McChesney (2016 3rd Team All-WPIAL) and Maggie Townsend (2016 2nd Team All-WPIAL) are the captains of our team, and we will rely on them to lead our team. We will be relatively inexperienced as we anticipate starting two freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and three seniors. We should be a strong serving team, and we are focused on strengthening our passing and defense.
Section Favorite: O.L. Sacred Heart.
WPIAL Favorite: Bishop Canevin
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Bentworth
Coach: Amanda Herman (1st year)
Returning Starters:
6-0 senior middle hitter Jena Vito
5-5 senior opposite Madison Franco
5-10 junior outside hitter Leah Lindley
5-6 sophomore outside hitter Maria Vito
5-9 junior middle hitter Ali Petrisik
junior setter Kaylie Anderson
junior libero Courtney Maimone
Season Outlook:
We have a lot of returning stars. Our two seniors are outside hitter Jena Vito, who is incredible, and Madison Franco, a 5-5 right-side hitter who is 5'5 but a great all around player and very consistent. Kaylie Anderson is our setter. I expect great things from her, she too is incredibly talented. Leah Lindley, a junior outside hitter, has started since she was a freshman and is a powerful hitter and server. Maria Vito is also a powerful outside hitter and can jump out of this world. Courtney Maimone, our libero, is very quick and her serve is out of this world. I don't know where she gets her strength from, but she has been known to ace me at practice. We have a lot of other tall girls, including middle hitter Ali Petrisik, who is amazingly athletic. I expect to make the playoffs this year.
Section Favorite:
This is a new section for me and I am not sure what to expect from the other teams but we have a ton of potential and a ton of talent.
Young Players to Watch:
We have plenty of younger players this year, a few freshman that are 5'11 that I expect to really come along quick for us as hitters, we have another setter that I think will help us tremendously named Taylor Griffith, who is in her sophomore year who is quick and really coming along.
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Bishop Canevin
Coach: Kevin Walters (11th year at Bishop Canevin, 17th overall)
Returning Starters:
5-9 junior outside hitter Kylie Airesman
5-11 senior middle hitter Tamara Blue
5-10 junior middle hitter Ally Correa
5-3 sophomore defensive specialist Hanna DeLisio
5-8 sophomore setter Maddie Maziarz
5-3 junior defensive specialist Gabby Matakovich
5-8 sophomore right-side hitter Alexa Malloy
Season Outlook:
We have a young, talented group that really gained a lot of experience and playing time last season. We think we can be competitive every night and have a successful season.
Section Favorite:
Fort Cherry
WPIAL Favorite:
Greensburg Central Catholic. They are the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class A Champions until somebody proves otherwise.
Young Players to Watch:
We have a freshman Gillian Golupski who will get some playing time on our team. Fort Cherry has a hitter Katie Nemec that had a strong offseason and should contribute to her team this year.
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Brentwood
Coach: Kayla Hubsch (3rd year)
Returning Starters:
5-9 senior middle hitter Morgan Dryburgh
5-6 senior setter/opposite Brittany Stewart
Season Outlook:
We lost 8 seniors due to graduation last year so we are in a rebuilding year for our program. Our young team has been working very hard over the summer during open gyms, team workouts, and summer leagues to help prepare our players for the Varsity level. One of the greatest strengths for our team is their cohesiveness of a team considering most of them have been playing together since 7th grade and some even longer through their basketball teams. At this early point in the season I would say we have a pretty solid foundation in our defense. We have two key blockers playing in middle, senior Morgan Dryburgh & junior Anna Betz. and some quick defensive specialists, senior Brooke Gilchrist and junior Brooke McQuillan. We are working on a new stronger offense with our new setters senior Brittany Stewart and junior Abby Wolf. Our goals are once again to make and be competitive in the WPIAL playoffs this year. When our seniors graduated last year we lost five of our starters consisting of a setter, two middle hitters, outside hitter/defensive specialist, a libero and three defensive specialists. We have been working hard over the summer to see who is going to be able to fill those positions which has been a challenge but in a positive way because some many of our players are eager to fill the starting positions. Trying to replace a setter, libero, and three power hitters is always a struggle but we are fortunate enough to have a strong and dedicated senior and junior class this year.
Section Favorite: Bishop Canevin & Fort Cherry
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California
Coach: Rene Pascoe (3rd year)
Returning Starters:
6-2 Senior Middle Hitter Annalise Gillespie
5-8 Senior Setter Ina Helmick
Season Outlook:
The section this year is very tough. I think any team can win it, depending on how well they play each and every game. I have a strong team but they have to come into every game knowing that they have to play hard to win. Carmichaels, Frazier and Geibel have a lot of talented players returning this year. They also have a lot of good young players to take the place of seniors that left. Mapletown and West Greene are building strong teams that have the potential to beat anyone in the section. It is going to be a fun but tough season.
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Carmichaels
Coach: Ashley Shoemaker (9th year)
Returning Starters:
5-11 Senior middle hitter Kristina Aeschbacher
5-6 Outside hitter Aubree Ferek
5-2 setter Jadyb Barnish
5-5 setter Grace Kerr
5-7 outside hitter Meighan Spishock
6-0 opposite Taylor Christopher
Season Outlook:
Team will be traveling to the KSA Tournament in Disney over Labor Day weekend. The team is expected to be competitive in their section and return to the playoffs.
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Chartiers-Houston
Coach: Sean Cleary (4th year at CH, 13th overall)
Returning Starters:
5-11 Senior Middle Blocker Breann King
5-10 Senior Setter Maddie Simpson
5-10 Senior Middle Blocker Brooke Serra
5-6 Senior Libero Ally Craig
5-8 Junior Outside Hitter Brittany Palfreyman
5-9 Junior Setter Paige Counihan
Season Outlook:
So far we have had a productive off season and the athletes have worked hard and performed well, while adapting and implementing some new and improved system concepts. Our season looks promising due to the returning leadership and younger foundation that is in place. It will be a battle, but a welcomed challenge in our section.
Section Favorite:
Has to be Bishop Canevin. They are coming off an amazing season and a long run in the WPIAL and PIAA, with their youth and returning athletes they will be strong for sure.
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Fort Cherry
Coach: Kelly Lacek (1st year as head coach, 3rd year at Fort Cherry)
Returning Starters:
5-5 senior Libero Alyssa Ersek
5-7 junior outside hitter Abby Cooper
5-5 sophomore setter Jadyn Hartner
Season Outlook:
This is my first year as Head Coach. For the past two years, I was the junior varsity coach and Jackie Artim's assistant coach. She was fantastic to work with and laid such a great foundation.
Section Favorite:
The competition each season is always very tight and we usually end up in competitive battles with Chartiers Houston and Bishop Canevin. From what I've seen the past two years, the Avella and Brentwood programs have had some great growth as well.
Young Players to Watch:
I'm not aware of any young players from the other teams at this time, but I can tell you about our sophomore setter Jadyn Hartner would be a player that is expected to make an impact for the Lady Rangers this year. Jadyn was the lead JV setter/back up varsity setter last season and worked her way to lead varsity setter halfway through our season. She helped the varsity team place 3rd in the WPIALS and making it to their first round of state playoffs. She is mentally tough and a student of the game.
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Frazier
Coach: Mandy Hartman (20th year)
Returning Starters:
5-9 Sophomore outside hitter Skye Eicher
5-6 Sophomore setter/outside hitter Logan Hartman
5-4 Sophomore Libero Kathryn Barch
5-8 Sophomore middle hitter Sierra Twigg
5-11 Sophomore right-side hitter Gabrielle Alekson
Section Favorite:
Our section should be very competitive. There are some seasoned teams and some with a lot of young talent.
WPIAL Favorite:
There are a lot of great teams and coaches. It will be an exciting season for us all.
Young Players to Watch:
I look for Skye Eicher to be an impact player for us.
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Geibel
Coach: Rick Watkins (27th year)
Returning Starters:
5-5 junior outside hitter Alexa Henckel
5-7 junior right-side hitter Amanda Antol
5-6 sophomore middle hitter Lauren Tomasko
5-6 sophomore opposite Jurnee Lantz
5-10 sophomore middle hitter Rebecca Perkins
5-6 junior defensive specialist Caelen Stevenson
Season Outlook:
Our team will try to continue to improve with a predominantly young roster(1 Senior). We will be adding several very talented Freshman that will need to gain experience quickly if we expect to challenge in a very strong section for a playoff spot. Frazier and Carmichaels should be the teams to chase for the section title.
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Jefferson-Morgan
Coach: Stephanie Woodruff (1st year at JM, 14th year overall)
Returning Starters:
Junior middle hitter Brynn Boyd
Sophomore setter Caitlyn Dugan
Season Outlook:
It's a rebuilding year as the team graduated seven seniors last year. This team has plenty of talent to earn a playoff berth.
Section Favorite: Frazier
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Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Coach: Mike McDonald (30th year)
Returning Starters:
5-5 junior outside hitter Katie Tarasovich
5-6 junior setter Sabrina Skukalek
5-7 sophomore outside hitter Gianna Platt
5-5 senior libero Shannon O'Donnell
5-10 junior middle hitter Ashley Norling
5-9 junior middle hitter Maddie Hoff
Section Favorite:
I think we will again be the favorite for the section title, with Beaver C.C. and Union right behind us. I am hoping that we can at least attain the semifinals and possibly challenge for the class A title.
WPIAL Favorite:
Bishop Canevin and Frazier are my favorites for the wpial title.
Young Players to Watch:
Beaver C.C.'s Maggie Townsend, the outside hitter for Frazier, Barch, the 3 girls returning for canevin.
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Springdale
Coach: Cindy Donnelly (3rd year)
Returning Starters:
5-10 Senior outside hitter Rachael Selzer
5-8 Sophomore outside hitter Becca Selzer
Season Outlook:
We have a strong duo on the outside with the Selzer sisters. We are young, our setter and starting middle are freshman and we don’t have a deep bench but we know defense wins games, and have spent a lot of time pre-season on stamina, making the smart plays, fighting for every point. I think we will compete in our section and have made making playoffs one of our team goals.
Section Favorite: Greensburg C.C., returning state champs.
WPIAL Favorite: Greensburg C.C.
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Vincentian Academy
Coach: Joyce Brown (4th year)
Returning Starters:
5-11 senior outside hitter Marina Eyster
5-6 senior setter Madi Very
5-4 senior defensive specialist Chloe Ditka
5-5 senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Eily Kanieki
5-8 senior opposite Mia Manganaro
5-7 sophmore outside hitter Olivia Schoppen
5-5 junior defensive specialist Concetta Panza
Season Outlook:
Large group of freshman working hard and willing and able to step up and fill the holes of our graduating seniors and some non returning players.
Section Favorite: Greensburg C.C.
WPIAL Favorite: Bishop Canevin
Young Players to Watch:
I have at least two freshman that will make their mark this year: 5-10 middle hitter Morgan Gralewski and 5-10 middle hitter Kayla Kenna.