Franklin Regional volleyball on cusp of first state title

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, November 20, 2020 | 4:52 PM

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It’s been a season of firsts for the Franklin Regional girls volleyball team.

The team won its first WPIAL championship and is making its first trip to the PIAA championship game.

Will the season end with another first?

Senior Aly Kindelberger thinks so.

“I think we’re playing with great confidence going into the next match,” Kindelberger said. “We’re playing our best, and we’ll see what happens.”

Franklin Regional will face District 11 power Bethlehem Catholic (17-0) in the Class 3A finals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School.

Bethlehem Catholic (17-0) hasn’t won a PIAA title since 2014. The Golden Hawks rallied to defeat York Suburban in the semifinals, 3-1. Franklin Regional (21-2) breezed past DuBois, 3-0.

Kindelberger, who has posted more than 1,000 kills in her career, had 21 kills against DuBois. The 6-foot-2 senior who signed a letter of intent with DePaul, also had numerous blocks.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Kindelberger said. “We’ve never been this far, but we have a chance. We’ve been working together for years. We’ve played together for a long time. It helps us out in a high-level game.”

Franklin Regional coach Mike Feorene had his daughters Alexa and Ashley and niece Brooke in the starting lineup on Tuesday. He called that super cool.

“We served well as a team and kept them off balance,” Feorene said.

Other key players stepping up for the Panthers were Renee Baldy, Ella Evans and Sydney Breitkreutz.

Bethlehem Catholic is led by MacKenzy Ruggiero, Rileigh Cummings and Jodi Hewitt on offense, and Kyleigh Brown and Emma Maskiell on defense.

“It’s a dream for any coach,” Feorene said. “This is what we worked for. It’s amazing. Not too many people get here in the first place. I can’t say enough about this team.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional