|
** Aliquippa ** Coach: Karma Jackson (4th year) Returning Starters: libero Tionne Lockettbero middle hitter Azia Woods middle hitter Kyla Foster defensive specialist Makaila Wilcox outside hitter Aniya Ellis safety Rahjane Powell defensive specialist Chandler Thompson Season Outlook: They are a great group of girls who have been together since I started coaching, high expectations from them this year and a bright and successful season. --------------------------------------- ** Beaver County Christian ** Coach: Christen Adels (16th year) Returning Starters: 5-7 senior middle hitter Maggie Townsend 6-0 junior middle hitter Celia York 5-8 junior outside hitter Hannah Biro 5-8 sophomore outside hitter Ella Metheny Season Outlook: We have most of our starters returning this year, and we should be strong in serve and serve reception. The primary area for development is the setting position, as the girls we are working in the position are very inexperienced. Maggie Townsend, a senior and first team All-WPIAL selection last year, is captain and will be relied upon to lead our team, particularly as we're working to develop a new setter. We have some height which we hope to capitalize on as the season progresses. Our goal is to reach the WPIAL Class A semifinals. Section Favorite: I anticipate there will be a three team battle for the section title with Shenango, Southside, and BCCS. WPIAL Favorite: Bishop Canevin --------------------------------------- ** Bishop Canevin ** Coach: Kevin Walters Entering 12th season at Bishop Canevin (204-66) Entering 18th season overall (292-100) Returning Starters: 5-8 senior outside hitter Kylie Airesman 5-10 senior middle hitter Ally Correa 5-3 junior libero Hanna DeLisio 5-11 senior outside hitter Lexi Hall 5-6 junior right side Alexa Malloy 5-1 senior defensive specialist Gabby Matakovich 5-7 junior setter Maddie Maziarz Season Outlook: After having played a lot of younger girls the last couple of seasons, we now have a strong group of veteran players returning and might have our deepest group of quality varsity level players in the last few years here at Canevin. This group could be capable of reaching any goals, if we continue to work and improve throughout the season. --------------------------------------- ** Brentwood ** Coach: Kayla Hubsch (6th year at Brentwood, 4th as head coach) Returning Starters: 5-9 senior middle hitter/defensive specialist Anna Betz 5-8 senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Natalie Murrio 5-4 senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Brooke McQuillan 5-3 senior setter Abby Wolf Season Outlook: Having four returning starters, Betz, Murrio, McQuillan, and Wolf who made such a big impact on our team last year as juniors is what is going to lead our team to success this year. These four seniors are natural athletes and work their hardest every single practice and open gym. Abby Wolf is our returning setter from last year and she has been working harder than any setter I have had in the past. Anna Betz is our returning middle blocker and defensive specialist. Anna was named to the first team All-Section last season and is eager to make an even bigger impact in Class A this year. Natalie Murrio and Brooke McQuillan are our returning outside hitter/defensive specialists. Quintasia Streeter and Maria Nguyen, both seniors, will also be making an impact on the team this season in the front and back row respectively. The comradary between the seniors is one of a kind. We compete with WPIAL champs Bishop Canevin and Fort Cherry, who we tied for second place in our section with last year. Our goal is to win the section this year and these girls are eager to do just that. We fell short in the first round of the post season last year but with the talent from our returning starters, our goal is to go well beyond the first round of playoffs this year. --------------------------------------- ** California ** Coach: Rene Pascoe (4th year) Returning Starters: 5-9 junior outside hitter Marlee Renner 5-7 senior outside hitter Mya Fetty Season Outlook: We are in a rebuilding year after losing 7 seniors, 5 of them were starters. Section Favorite: I think Geibel and Carmichael have very strong teams this year in our section. Both have a strong chance to win the section and WPIAL's as long as they stay healthy. --------------------------------------- ** Carmichaels ** Coach: Ashley Shoemaker (9th year) Returning Starters: 5-6 senior setter Grace Kerr 5-6 defensive specialist Micaela Ricco 5-7 Outside Meighan Spishock 6-0 Middle Taylor Christopher Season Outlook: This year we look to build on our successes from last season. We are looking to make another playoff run and be competing for the section title. --------------------------------------- ** Fort Cherry ** Coach: Kelly Lacek (2nd year) Returning Starters: 5-6 senior libero/outside hitter Abby Cooper 5-8 sophomore middle hitter/setter Reagan Carter 5-3 junior defense specialist Gracie Dunn 5-5 junior setter Jadyn Hartner 5-9 junior middle hitter Allie McKean 5-8 junior outside hitter Katherine Nemec 5-1 sophomore defense specialist Elizabeth Staley Season Outlook: We look to have a successful season with Sections, WPIALS and go onto State competition. We had a young group of players last season who needed time to grow in unity and strength. We had 90% of the varsity players compete in club competition in the off season and the outlook for the season is very exciting for them. Section Favorite: Bishop Canevin is always a high level of competition and we look forward to playing Brentwood this season. WPIAL Favorite: I would say we would be a favorite this season with the 8 juniors that we have and Bishop Canevin with the 8 seniors that they have. There's a lot of season and club experience with both teams. Young Players to Watch: From the our team, I would say sophomore, middle hitter, Reagan Carter. She never played on JV and went right to varsity with her abilities and energetic spirit for the game. She is also our back up setter this season. She is definitely a utility hitter like most of our hitters which makes her an impactful player for the Lady Rangers. --------------------------------------- ** Geibel Catholic ** Coach: Rick Watkins (27th year) Returning Starters: 6-0 senior middle hitter Haley Riggin 5-4 senior libero Alexa Henckel 5-7 senior middle hitter Amanda Antol 5-7 junior outside hitter Lauren Tomasko 5-6 junior right side Jurnee Lantz 5-6 junior defensive specialist Hannah Geary 5-8 sophomore outside hitter Paige Bogozi 5-4 sophomore setter Shannon Watkins Season Outlook: With every starter returning and most of our players gaining off season club experience, our team should be able to challenge for one of the top spots in the WPIAL. We take an opening weekend trip to Florida to participate in the KSA tournament. We're hoping that gets us a look at some good teams to prepare for section play. Section Favorite: We believe if we can get a consistent effort every night that we will have a good chance of winning the section. Frazier has moved up to 2A and the other teams that contended last year had significant graduation losses. WPIAL Favorite: The WPIAL title is Bishop Canevin's to lose. They bring back all but one starter and it will take a flawless game from someone in Class A to beat them and that might not be enough. Southside and Shenango drop down from 2A and Ft. Cherry, Beaver County Christian, Brentwood and Geibel Catholic will be among the teams looking for that chance. --------------------------------------- ** Greensburg C.C. ** Coach: Courtney Stynchula (1st year) Returning Starters: Senior libero Ruby Binkerton Senior middle hitter Sarah Petnuch Senior right Side Hitter Rachel Riley Senior setter/outside hitter Abbey Kilkeary Junior defensive specialist Alex Christlieb Junior setter/outside hitter Elizabeth Colecchia Season Outlook: Our quote for this season is, “how hard would you play if you knew you couldn’t play tomorrow”, and hope that’s exactly what these girls do. They were disappointed with the turn out of last season and they are definitely ready to come back for redemption this year. Section Favorite: No. WPIAL Favorite: No. --------------------------------------- |