2017 WPIAL Class 4A Preview Capsules

Baldwin

Coach: Chris Kelly (4th year at Baldwin, 12th overall)

Returning Starters:
5-9 senior middle hitter Briana Phillips
5-10 sophomore middle hitter Allison Murray
5-4 sophomore setter Mia Hampsay

Season Outlook:
This will certainly be a different kind of season for us. Maddi Sgattoni, two-time WPIAL MVP, is off to the Naval Academy and we will have more openings to fill in the starting rotation than in my previous three seasons. We have a lot of talented girls coming back who will be fighting for their chance to contribute. I'm very excited to see who will step up for us this season!

Section Favorite:
As far as our section is concerned, I think the favorites would be Upper St. Clair (last year's section champs) and Bethel Park, who looked very impressive in summer league.

WPIAL Favorite:
WPIAL favorites are Upper St. Clair, North Allegheny, and Seneca Valley.

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Bethel Park

Coach: Mike Mull (1st year at BP, 9th overall)

Returning Starters:
5-10 senior middle hitter Erin Sullivan
5-9 senior outside hitter Stephanie Kazalas
5-11 junior setter Emma Puzausky
6-2 senior right side Brianna Shannon

Season Outlook:
Considering last year's WPIAL semifinal appearance, we have a great core returning and quite a few new weapons that have really progressed over the off season and the Southpointe summer league that we participated in. The girls have been working hard and we have really gelled with the younger players stepping up and new coaching staff. WPIAL preseason rankings do not mean anything to us honestly, in our eyes, it is an advantage to not be on that list. We strongly feel we can compete in this very deep section as well and complete our first goal this year, and that is to bring a section championship to Bethel Park. We have goals and a game plan in place, this competitive group of girls cannot wait to compete and really turn heads in the WPIAL, and in all honesty, neither can I! We are family first here, the team is produced from that.

Section Favorite:
Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair.

WPIAL Favorite:
Seneca Valley is the favorite. Is Seneca Valley beatable? Yes, everyone is beatable on any given day. With Seneca Valley winning last year though, they will definitely be targeted by teams looking to win a WPIAL championship this year.

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Butler

Coach: Meghan Lucas (15th year at Butler, 23rd overall)

Returning Starters:
5-11 junior middle hitter Julia Gibson
5-8 junior setter Tabitha Walker
5-6 junior outside hitter Maria Lucas

Season Outlook:
We are looking to compete for a playoff spot in the always strong Section 3-AAAA.  

Section Favorite:
North Allegheny and Seneca Valley.

WPIAL Favorite:
North Allegheny.

Young Players to Watch:
Seneca Valley's Sarah White, Butler's Sophia Lucas, and North Allegheny's Paige Miller.

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Fox Chapel

Coach: Phil O'Keeffe (1st year)

Returning Starters:
Senior Libero Tessa Friday
Junior Outside hitter Jessie Michel
Junior Setter Chloe Yofan
Senior Setter Lauren Heasly
Junior Outside hitter Megan Friday

Season Outlook:
Hard to tell as this is my first season with the girls, but I am optimistic that we will be able to compete with anybody.

Section Favorite:
Oakland Catholic, Armstrong and Plum from what I understand.

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Kiski Area

Coach: Paul Tomlinson (3rd season)

Returning Starters:
List your returning starters:
5-8 senior outside hitter Payton Davison
5-7 junior setter Cassie Shoupe
5-11 junior middle hitter Kayla Zelonka
6-0 junior middle hitter Dara Zelonka
5-7 senior setter Megan Munzek
5-4 senior defensive specialist Sophie McDermott
5-5 senior outside hitter Erin Weaver

Season Outlook:
Should be in the hunt for a playoff berth, we've gotten stronger and taller at the net.

Section Favorite:
Oakland Catholic, Armstrong

WPIAL Favorite:
North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, Baldwin, Oakland Catholic.

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Moon

Coach: Sarah Durham (2nd year)

Returning Starters:
5-5 senior setter Sarah Ellis

Season Outlook:
We only have one returning starter but have a lot of young talent. We are hoping to get some experience for the younger players and develop some strength and stability in the program.

Section Favorite:
Baldwin or Upper St. Clair.

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Mt. Lebanon

Coach: Sarah Smith (1st year)

Returning Starters:
5-7 senior outside hitter Julianne Jenkins
5-9 senior setter Sara O'Toole
5-5 senior libero Marija Pavlick
5-8 senior right side hitter Nina Routh

Season Outlook:
I am not very familiar with our section or WPIAL. I recently moved to Pittsburgh last year and am slowly learning all the teams around the area. During summer league we had some fierce competition against Pine Richland and Upper St. Clair, but I think overall it is going to be competitive.

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North Allegheny

Coach: Heidi Miller (6th year as head coach, 20th year at NA)

Returning Starters:
6-0 senior middle hitter Kayla Dinkins
5-9 senior opposite Mika Logan
5-11 junior middle hitter Anna Sprys
5-7 sophomore setter Abby Miller
5-6 senior libero Erin Carmody
5-6 junior defensive specialist Allena Carmody
5-8 junior outside hitter Maddy Mueller

Season Outlook:
We have talented veteran players returning to the team that are hungry for a WPIAL title, and some strong additions to the lineup with younger players that have the team looking solid and deep in all positions.

Section Favorite:
Seneca Valley, Pine Richland, and North Allegheny will all be putting very competitive teams on the floor.

WPIAL Favorite:
I think there is a good chance that the WPIAL championships could include a Section 3 team and possibly two of us playing each other.

Young Players to Watch:
Seneca Valley will be playing a freshman setter who is very good. Paige Miller will be a strong freshman Outside hitter for us. I know there will be other talented sophomores playing on various teams in the WPIAL.

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Oakland Catholic

Coach: Emily Reeser (1st year at Oakland Catholic, 3rd overall)

Returning Starters:
5-8 Senior Setter Moira Folan
5-10 Senior Middle Blocker Abigail Ottaviano
5-9 Senior Opposite Elizabeth Jankowski
5-9 Senior Defensive Specialist Molly Scotti
5-9 Junior Outside Hitter Alana Felix
5-8 Junior Setter Nina Fratto
6-0 Sophomore Outside Hitter Dominique Felix

Season Outlook:
With a good amount of returners coming back this year, we have potential for a positive season outcome. Both JV and Varsity are very determined and focused towards our goals this upcoming season.

Section Favorite:
There are great teams in our section with high level of play, determination, and focus. We look forward to playing against each team this season.

WPIAL Favorite:
The WPIAL has a great deal of competition, intensity, and talent this season. We hope to showcase our talent, competition, and intensity during WPIAL playoffs.

Young Players to Watch:
I believe there is potential for many young players to make an impact this fall. I look forward to finding out who these athletes are and how well they prevail this season.

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Penn-Trafford

Coach: Jim Schall (20th year)

Returning Starters:
5-7 Senior Setter Samantha Kelly
5-7 Senior Outside hitter Makenzie Schropp
5-11 Senior Middle hitter Jess Heiman
5-10 Sophomore Outside hitter Bella Long
6-1 Junior Outside hitter Stephanie O'Donnell
5-7 Senior Outside hitter/Defensive specialist Bre Bruno

Section Favorite:
Hempfield and Norwin but Franklin Regional, Latrobe and Connellsville will be good teams also

WPIAL Favorite:
Seneca Valley, North Allegheny, Upper St Clair

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Peters Township

Coach: Ashley Green (8th year)

Returning Starters:
5-9 senior Outside hitter Brooke Hjerpe
5-7 senior Defensive specialist Clare Kovac
5-11 senior Middle hitter Sarah Stiffler
5-7 junior Setter/right hitter Celine Blon
5-6 junior Defensive specialist Jill Yeates
5-6 junior Defensive specialist Abby Crookshank
5-8 sophomore Emmy Ploskina

Season Outlook:
I am excited to begin another year at Peters Township. The summer open gyms, camps, and summer league have been very positive and the girls have been working hard and are focused.

Section Favorite:
The teams in our section are very talented, it will be a competitive season.

WPIAL Favorite:
Two of our players: 6-1 sophomore Middle hitter Lauren Valentic and 5-8 freshman Outside hitter Madison Tassone.

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Pine-Richland

Coach: Amanda Fetter (6th year)

Returning Starters:
6-1 Senior Right Side Hannah Cottrill
5-11 Senior Middle Zoe Sims
5-10 Senior Middle Shelby Zahn
5-11 Senior Right Side Callie Polce
5-7 Senior Outside Kiersten Maxwell
5-4 Libero Maddie Schieder
5-11 Sophomore Outside Hitter Anna Jurkovec
5-4 Senior Defensive Specialist Jackie Hansen

Season Outlook:
This year we have a very good combination of leadership and talent on our team, and we are very excited to see how that will come together during the season. We have strong returning players that we are hoping set the tone for competition.  

Section Favorite:
Our section is always very difficult and seems to only be getting stronger. I am not sure who the favorite is, but we know every match will be a battle.  

WPIAL Favorite:
Oakland Catholic, North Allegheny, Seneca Valley.

Young Players to Watch:
Sarah White-Seneca Valley

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Plum

Coach: Carly Bonk (2nd year)

Returning Starters:
5-11 Outside Hitter Brianna Bialota
5-10 Middle Hitter Sofia Chapkis
5-8 Outside Hitter Madison Sciullo
5-0 Libero Bailey Raposa
5-2 Defensive Specialist Laney Kiefer
5-8 Outside Hitter Miranda Depkon

Season Outlook:
Team effort with strong serving and spreading offense across the board. Two young, new setters looking to step in and run our offense. Strong group of seniors who play smart and aggressive. Will work on feeding off of our scrappy defense. Expect to finish in top three, earning a playoff spot.

Section Favorite:
Armstrong and Oakland Catholic

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Seneca Valley

Coach: Karen Martini (13th year, 16th overall)

Returning Starters:
5-11 senior right side hitter Emily Devlin
5-5 senior setter Maddie McDonough
5-6 senior defensive specialist Hannah White
5-11 senior outside hitter Kiara Carrasquilla
5-10 sophomore middle hitter Anna DeGraff

Season Outlook:
Seneca Valley is looking to rebuild after losing nine seniors. We have positions to fill and looking for strong leadership. We will build one match at a time. We hope to make the playoffs.

Section Favorite:
As of now it seems North Allegheny is the favorite for our section and the WPIAL.

Young Players to Watch:
Seneca Valley will have a young freshman (Sarah White) that will be a player to watch in the WPIAL.

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Upper St. Clair

Coach: Victor Morais (1st year)

Returning Starters:
6-2 Senior Outside Hitter Alex Amos
6-0 Senior Outside Hitter Isabelle Walsh
6-0 Senior Setter/Right Side Leslie O'Malley
5-8 Senior Defensive Specialist Cara Zollars
5-8 Junior Setter/Defensive Specialist Maryn Foster
5-9 Junior Right Side Brynn Foster
6-0 Sophomore Middle Blocker Emily O'Malley

Season Outlook:
Coming to this season we have players who are considered the best players of our section, if not the WPIAL itself. Last season, Upper St. Clair had a team to win the WPIAL but for some reason didn't get further than the second round of the playoffs. Combined the players with the new coaching staff Upper St. Clair will work hard to achieve what was supposedly to be achieved last season which is go all the way at the WPIAL.

Section Favorite:
In our section I believe we sort of the favorites due to the history and the fact that we won our section last season, however teams have been training hard and there are always new talents joining schools so even though we may be the favorite the game is played but I will ensure that we fight to keep our favoritism.

WPIAL Favorite:
In terms of a favorite to the WPIAL. There are teams in the WPIAL that always make to the top four, for example Baldwin has always shown a solid team throughout the years. However, I believe that this year things are more balanced than ever, plus you never know what's to come until the game and tournament starts. I personally cannot predict or pick a favorite because I always believe that my team is the favorite, but I cannot forget the dark horses that are coming after us. Being more specific, the team that wants it more will take it. Volleyball is a tricky game which you never know the outcome till the end is over.