Franklin Regional volleyball contending with top teams in Section 1

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 28, 2018 | 8:27 PM

Franklin Regional girls volleyball coach Mike Feorene has had a blast this season watching the progression of his team as they’ve stacked wins in Section 1-AAA play.

What makes it even sweeter for him and his team is how quickly they went from being a team that went winless in section play last year to a team that has been competitive every time they’ve taken the floor.

The Panthers have come a long way in a short amount of time and are 6-3 in section play, good for third place in the standings. Even in their losses they’ve had good showings. They took the first set that first-place Armstrong had dropped in Section 1 all season in a 3-1 loss and led 2-0 against Kiski Area, which is second place in the standings, before falling 3-2.

“Once you start winning games, the motivation to continue winning drives them,” Feorene said. “To me, we’re not just in the mix, but fighting with those teams with the same purpose. I like the way we’re playing. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re right in the proximity of those top teams in the section.”

Feorene and senior outside hitter Maddie Breitkreutz pointed to several reasons as to why the Panthers have become a much tougher team to play against. They cited experience, a greater ability to finish off kills and good communication between setters and hitters.

It all started over the summer when they went into optional workouts with a purpose and found success playing in the Kiski Area summer league.

“Everybody showed up on time and everyone wanted to put in an extra effort to come to those optional conditionings and summer league matches we had on Sundays,” Breitkreutz said. “We played a lot better and had a lot of growth in our development over the summer. It did a lot for our confidence leading into this season.”

Breitkreutz, who is a co-captain with Gracie Painter, has been a major part of a versatile attack for Panthers. Feorene said a major issue last year was an inability to consistently execute kills, but that hasn’t been a problem lately. Franklin Regional has had multiple players step up and each one brings something different to the court.

“Aly Kindelberger is a force in the middle,” Feorene said. “She can basically hit the ball from anywhere and she’s a very good blocker too. Rachel Reppermund plays outside and she’s a very good hitter. She understands where to attack on the court. Maddie Breitkreutz not only hits smart, but she’s the best passer on the court right now. She plays all six rotations and her passing has been on fire lately.

“Caitlyn Frantz had been playing opposite for us, but she played middle for us all last year and we moved her back there on Tuesday. It was really her first night back there and she blocked well. She actually had a higher kill percentage too than what she had at opposite.”

The Panthers lost middle hitter Hannah Flick for the season with a knee injury, which she suffered at the Penn-Trafford tournament Sept. 22. Renee Baldy and Ashley Feorene are sophomores, who have stepped up to fill the role at opposite hitter.

The slew of hitters has developed a good relationship with setters Liz Sarneso and Piper Toto. Feorene has been impressed with how both of them have progressed after replacing Julia Petrucci, the lone graduate from last year’s team.

Breitkreutz said all of them are friends outside of volleyball which has helped their cohesiveness on the court.

“If you get along outside of volleyball, you’ll get along playing volleyball,” Breitkreutz said. “Just being able to talk to all the players on the court and knowing where they’re going to be … that communication is vital. Both of our setters are very good at relaying what they want us to do and what they want the back row to do and vice versa. We all have confidence in each other.”

That confidence was tested when the Panthers traveled to Indiana on Sept. 20. They dropped the first two sets to the Indians, which Feorene called their worst two sets of the season. After the second set there was an intermission for a serving contest to win pizza, and in that time the Panthers regrouped, made adjustments and stormed back to win the next three sets to take the match. It was a big turning point in the season, because it kept Franklin Regional in the top half of the standings.

“We went from feeling low to having the communication pick up, then the energy picked up and then everybody was cheering,” Breitkreutz said. “We got the entire bench to get into it and get excited. Overall, it was a proud moment for us to be able to persevere to get the win.”

The Panthers have momentum, and they’ll look to keep it rolling in the right direction as they enter the second half of section play.

“I like where we’re at, but we still have a long way to go,” Feorene said. “We’re not even mentioning the ‘p-word’ (playoffs) yet. The girls are buying to where we are at, but they also know we have a ton of work to do. They’re having fun, but they also recognize that we need to take it one step at a time.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional