Quaker Valley volleyball building foundation for special season

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, October 6, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Quaker Valley has been ranked among the top Class 2A girls volleyball teams in the WPIAL and state all season.

The Quakers strung together eight consecutive wins in September after suffering a season-opening loss to arch-nemesis Beaver.

Seven victories were by 3-0 scores; the eighth was a 3-1 decision.

“I think we are about where I expected us to be at the first half of the season,” coach Mike Vavrek said. “We are undefeated through the first half of section play, and we are continuing to improve every day. I think we have been very efficient offensively (hitting almost .300 as a team) and pretty good defensively as well as from the service line.

“Class 2A has been very interesting this year. There seem to be upsets and surprises every night. We need to continue to get better and show up every time we step on the court.”

QV is led by seniors Vanessa Pickett, a 5-foot-9 setter, 5-11 Molly MacDonald and 5-7 Nora Hammond, as outside hitters, and 5-5 libero Carmen Forsythe.

“Every girl that has come through the program has meant something to it,” Vavrek said. “This group, a few in particular who have been three- and four-year starters, may be the winningest group that has come through the program in my 14 years at QV.

“We have had some great teams the last couple years, and that is because we have had some great girls the last few years. It has been a lot of fun watching these girls grow up not just on the court but off the court as well.”

Pickett, MacDonald, Hammond and Forsythe are co-captains.

“As far as off-the-court leadership, those four all help contribute in their own way to keep this team moving forward,” Vavrek said.

The team’s starting rotation also consists of middle hitters Mia Gartley, a 5-9 junior and the fifth starter back from last year, and sophomore Nola Ebberts, along with junior right-side hitter Isabella Jarrett.

As of Sept. 30, MacDonald led the team in kills with 137, followed by Hammond with 60. Hammond was the team leader in digs (86) and aces (26). Pickett had a team-high 221 assists.

“We have done a really good job working together as a team,” said MacDonald, who is verbally committed to the admissions process at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt. “Our offense has been connecting very well recently, especially with our middles.

“I’m excited to see how far we go this year. I think that we are going to go into playoffs and do well. I hope we make it to the WPIAL finals this year; that would be very exciting.”

MacDonald and Pickett ranked second and third in digs; Pickett and Gartley were second and third in aces.

“I’m impressed with our team’s performance this season and I’m excited to see how we continue to play in the second half of section,” Pickett said. ”I’m determined to make the WPIAL and state playoffs and see how we can compete against challenging teams.”

Forsythe also has great postseason expectations.

“Our performance has been quite strong,” she said. “Our team has been working very well together. My expectations for the rest of the season are pretty high. I feel like we have a chance of going pretty far this year.”

Hammond believes it has taken a solid group effort by the QV netters.

“I’m super proud of our success so far in section play,” she said. “We have some veterans on the team that balance out the new players to varsity. Our entire roster contributes to our wins including the junior varsity girls.

“I’m very grateful to be a part of a team that feels like family and look forward to seeing everyone at practice every day. I hope to continue playing with these girls as long as the season allows us to. And I expect to win our section; we have the goals to win the WPIAL while also qualifying for states.”

Eden Palladini and Keira Sanner are senior defensive specialists for the Quakers. Other reserves include juniors Gabby Frank (MH/RS), Grace Carver (RS/DS), Ella Palmer (DS) and Donika Keo (DS).

QV ended the first half of the season with a 7-0 record in Section 1-2A. The QV girls defeated Hopewell, 3-1, and shut out Aliquippa, New Brighton, Freedom, Avonworth, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Northgate by 3-0 scores.

“I expect us to continue to improve daily,” Vavrek said. “I expect teams to give us their best game each night, so we must continue to get better. We need to keep up our offensive production, which means to keep putting the ball away at a good percentage and being low error.

“I think we need to continue to serve to score while minimizing our errors from the service line. We will also need to pick up our defensive effort if we want to reach our goals.”

MacDonald recently was recognized as the second girl to attain 500 career kills in Vavrek’s coaching tenure at QV. She was presented with a game ball and commemorative poster.

MacDonald reached the milestone Sept. 17 against Avonworth. And after attaining only 31 kills as a freshman, she basically reached 500 in two-and-a-half years.

Tags: Quaker Valley