Confident Leechburg volleyball team intent on ending three-year playoff drought

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 23, 2017 | 11:20 PM

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The same word was said loudly and confidently by Daesha Knight, Mikayla Lovelace, Makenzie Fello, Morgan Pierce, Brittany Robilio and Cam Davies when describing the expectation for the Leechburg girls volleyball team.

“Playoffs,” they said in unison.

The playoffs are a place that Leechburg volleyball hasn't been since 2014, but the aforementioned girls have experienced the postseason in other sports. Fello, Davies, Lovelace, Robilio and Knight are the staring five on the basketball team, which won a state playoff game for the first time in school history last season. Pierce is the pitcher on the softball team, which qualified for the postseason for the 31st consecutive season last year.

Now they all want to take the the volleyball team to the postseason, and after beating Vincentian Academy, 3-1, last week, confidence is high for the Blue Devils. They have their sights set on ascending to the top of Section 4-A.

After dropping its first two matches to Trinity Christian and Greensburg Central Catholic, Leechburg reeled off four consecutive victories over Springdale, Riverview, Vincentian Academy and Eden Christian, putting it in playoff position in a muddled section with multiple teams with two or more losses heading into the second half. The Blue Devils play St. Joseph on Tuesday to finish the first half.

“This could be the year where we make some moves to the top,” Leechburg coach Eve Hebrank said. “I told the girls on the way home after the (Vincentian) win that we're going to keep climbing, and we're not going to stop until we reach the top.”

Trinity Christian is atop the section standings. Leechburg lost 3-0 to Trinity Christian in the season opener and gets another crack at them Thursday. Greensburg Central Catholic is second with one loss. Leechburg and Vincentian are tied for third, and Riverview, St. Joseph and Springdale are behind them with three or more losses.

Close play from top to bottom is making the section a quagmire, but the Blue Devils believe they can pull themselves out of the pack and get to the playoffs.

“Our section is really tough because it can be anybody's night,” Hebrank said. “There are times when we play down, and there are times when we play up. Other teams do that, too. There's a good four or five teams that are neck-and-neck right now.

“Trinity Christian was our first match, and they came out strong and are always a scrappy team. We lost to Greensburg Central Catholic, too, but with the way we've been playing, I don't see a reason why we can't win the rest of our games.”

The win against Vincentian provided satisfaction for the girls on the basketball team, who have lost to the Royals the last three years. It also showed them they can compete with anybody in the section.

“After losing to Trinity (Christian) in our first game of the season, we didn't feel good, so beating Vincentian was a pretty big deal,” Davies said.

Said Lovelace: “I don't think we've won at Vincentian in anything, so that felt pretty good, especially since it's our senior year.”

Davies is the setter, Knight is an outside hitter, Robilio is the libero, Lovelace is the middle hitter, Fello is an outside hitter and plays in the back row and Pierce is a defensive specialist. All have been playing volleyball since junior high.

All are strong athletes, and Hebrank has worked to balance their athleticism with being technically sound volleyball players.

“A lot of the times, their athletic ability shines through more than their fundamentals,” Hebrank said. “This year, we've been focusing on the fundamentals and technicalities, and they've been fine-tuning them. We keep preaching fundamentals, and they're realizing they don't have to power every hit and blast every serve. They're learning that if they alter their technique, they can win games.”

Hebrank is in her second season as coach after serving as an assistant. She played at Leechburg for long-time coach and Leechburg volleyball founder Ellen Toy, who died last February after a long battle with cancer. Hebrank was the junior varsity coach when the current group started playing.

“She's helped out the whole time we've been here, so we're all really close with her,” Davies said. “She coached us in junior high, so we've kind of all worked our way up together and progressed together as a team.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg