Aquinas Academy girls volleyball joins big leagues

By: John Grupp
Saturday, September 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The Aquinas Academy girls volleyball team is a first-year WPIAL program, but the Crusaders plan to grow up quickly.

After two seasons as a club sport, the players at the tiny Hampton Catholic school have their sights on a WPIAL Class A playoff berth.

“We just put up some new banners in our gym, and the volleyball one is empty,” junior opposite-side hitter Alexa Risdon said. “With my two seasons left, I want to fill it with all of the numbers that I can.”

Aquinas Academy went 6-4 as a club team last year and had enough roster participation to ensure the WPIAL put the Crusaders in a section and gave them a schedule for the 2024 season.

This year’s team attracted 24 players (at a school with only 90 or so girls in grades 9-12). The Crusaders reached the semifinals of the season-opening Deer Lakes tournament Aug. 24, defeating Valley and Highlands before falling to eventual champion St. Joseph.

“We’re all very excited about it because we’ve been wanting to be (in the) WPIAL for a long time,” sophomore outside hitter Katie Tarquinio said. “We all want to make it to playoffs because we want to prove we can get that far, even though we haven’t been in WPIAL before this year.”

Second-year coach Jenny Chufo believes a top-three finish in Section 1-A — and the playoff spot that comes with it — is a realistic goal for the burgeoning program. To qualify, the Crusaders would likely need to finish in the six-team section ahead of Springdale, Leechburg and Riverview, teams that went a combined 7-38 last season.

“I absolutely feel we can; I know we can,” said Chufo, a former volleyball standout and hall of famer at Marymount (Va.) University. “I’m very confident, and I feel very good about this season, for sure, and our section.”

Five of the six starters also play basketball for Aquinas, a program that has reached the WPIAL Class A championship game twice in the past three seasons.

“They know what it’s like, through basketball, to be a WPIAL team and be successful and make it into the playoffs,” Chufo said. “It’s just exciting and fun. They know that, and I think they are really looking forward to it with volleyball.”

Other top players include senior captains Violet Johnson, a middle blocker, and Lucy Fowler, an outside hitter, along with sophomore middle blocker Kay Chufo, the coach’s daughter, and sophomore setter Carly Bezila.

Risdon, who has played organized volleyball since grade school, helped recruit some of her basketball teammates.

“I just told them, ‘You are so athletic and I have such great faith in you. You are going to do amazing. You are going to have fun. It’s going to be great. You’re going to meet new people and you’re going to have a great time.’”

Chufo said the newcomers have used their athleticism to overcome any unfamiliarity with the sport.

“They are just good, smart athletes. We have really versatile players who will play all the way around,” Chufo said. “Our middle blockers will play back row. You don’t see that a lot in volleyball. It might just be who we are and we are new, but it works for us right now.”

The Crusaders will learn how far they have come when they visit the Freeport Tournament on Oct. 5. Freeport is one of the top teams in Class 3A.

“They have been waiting for this,” Chufo said. “I think they are excited because they are a good team. They can do good things.”

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