Franklin Regional welcomes new girls volleyball coach

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 10:47 AM

Girls volleyball season is fast approaching and Erin Salas is preparing to lead a different team this fall.

Salas coached Greensburg Central Catholic for three seasons and had a successful run with a WPIAL and PIAA championship in 2024. But she left the program and is now the head coach at Franklin Regional.

Teams can begin official practice Aug. 11 and the WPIAL season opens Aug. 22. Salas lives in Murrysville, so the Franklin Regional campus will be closer than GCC.

She hopes it feels like home.

“It is close, it is the school district I live in, and my children attend the school,” she said. “When the opportunity came up in November, I decided to apply.”

Salas is also the middle school softball coach at Franklin Regional, so she has familiarity with the program.

She coached the GCC middle school girls volleyball team for 10 years (2014-24), then was a varsity assistant for one season before becoming head coach.

Salas, 40, said it was time to begin a new chapter. She is a GCC alum who played volleyball, basketball and softball. She went on to play softball and basketball at Saint Vincent.

“It was a very difficult decision to leave GCC, but it felt like it was time,” Salas said. “With the senior class graduating and my own daughter entering high school this past year, who I wasn’t able to see play volleyball very much. I felt it was the right time for a change.”

Salas replaces Rachel Carter, who resigned at Franklin Regional and is ready to welcome her first child.

GCC hired Jenna Yezavich, who was Salas’ assistant.

“I will always be grateful to the GCC administration, players, families and Jenna Yezavich for the opportunity to coach at the high school level and the amazing years while there,” Salas said. “I learned so much coaching there and I am so thankful I got the opportunity.

“Winning (the) WPIAL was always the goal for myself and the girls for the last four years. Continuing on, watching the team jell the way they did during playoffs and winning states was an amazing experience and something I will never forget.”

As far as what Salas plans to bring to her new program, which is a bump-up from Class A to 3A, she is learning to work with a larger crop of girls.

“I am bringing in a new set of eyes and a different view on serve-receive and defense,” she said. “There are a lot of talented girls who are willing to work hard. We have been working all summer on serve-receive and spot servicing to get ready for the 2025 season.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional