Revamped lineup looks to keep Hampton girls volleyball in championship form

By: John Grupp
Saturday, August 31, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Second-team all-WPIAL setter Lilly Muczinski has a message for anyone doubting the Hampton girls volleyball team this season.

“We can take anyone, any day,” she said. “We’re scrappy. We are everywhere. We can pick up balls. We can block. We can do everything.”

Next up, they get to try to prove it.

Hampton graduated six of the nine players who saw action in last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championship victory over North Catholic, led by three-time all-state outside hitter Emmy Schrom and two-time all-WPIAL libero Avery Koontz.

But three full-time players return from the school’s first WPIAL champion and a 25-1 PIAA runner-up — hitters Payton Galietti, a senior, and Marin Katona-Bock, a sophomore, along with Muczinski, a junior. The trio is buttressed by an eager group of new starters who have been waiting for their time to shine in a program that has reached the PIAA finals twice in the past three years.

“I’m so excited,” said Galietti, who is moving from middle hitter to outside to ease the loss of Schrom, the most decorated volleyball player in Hampton history. “In past years, it was hard to get out there and show what we had. But this year we have so many new people and there’s so many options for us to do good this year.”

Katona-Bock, named third-team all-section as a freshman, is also moving around, shifting from opposite-side hitter to outside as part of a new-look frontline.

Third-year coach Dainen Holler is confident in the Talbots’ prospects. Hampton is 44-2 in his two seasons, including a 36-0 regular-season record. The Talbots went 24-0 the past two seasons in a noncompetitive section comprised of large East suburbs schools, but will now compete in Section 2-3A with teams closer to home, such as Mars and perennial power and longtime Talbots rival Freeport.

Senior Jackie Bittner takes over at libero — “She’s looked great all year,” Holler said — and the reworked frontline will include help from senior Anna Hensberger, sophomore Katie Christy and freshman Kameron Solkovy.

Senior setter/hitter Kassidy Thompson and senior defensive specialists Anabel Fazzini and Eva Hughes will also see their roles increased this season.

“I think the senior class is motivated to make this a special year for them,” Holler said. “They know that it’s on them to carry the torch, and I think they are looking to rise to the occasion. … It’s a journey and we will get to the destination when we get there.”

A pair of 2023 WPIAL Class 2A finalists who moved up to Class 3A — defending champion Beaver and runner-up Freeport — are expected to be the top challengers to dethrone Hampton. The Talbots will travel to Freeport on Sept. 19 and host the Yellowjackets on Oct. 15.

Muczinski, who has more than 1,200 assists as a two-year starter, bristled at the notion that Hampton is a bit of an underdog this season.

“It just motivates us more,” she said. “We want to be better and show them, ‘Oh, yeah. You keep thinking that.’”

Tags: Hampton