Penn Hills girls volleyball team struggling to find consistency

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, October 17, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Penn Hills girls volleyball coach Jay Mitlo would like to see a few things fall in the Indians’ favor. When evaluating his team’s performance thus far, Mitlo believes the team has settled into a tough pattern.

“I had another coach ask me how the team is, and I say we are tremendously average,” Mitlo said. “On paper, the teams we should beat, we beat. The teams we shouldn’t, we haven’t.”

Penn Hills is 2-9 in Section 1-3A, with victories over Woodland Hills and McKeesport. The Indians’ matchups with teams above them in the standings have seen close calls.

Missing opportunities to knock off some of those top teams has plagued Penn Hills.

Against Plum, which is 10-1 and has clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs, the Indians were leading one of the sets 25-24 before they dropped three straight points in a Mustangs’ sweep.

“In any match, you can’t afford to give away points,” Mitlo said. “Sometimes we are very generous. From the mental side of it, these girls don’t understand how good they are. Ninety percent of that is experience.”

Playing in a section that has the defending WPIAL champion, Franklin Regional, along with another stout program in Indiana makes things difficult on the Indians. Penn Hills has only three players who play year-round, and most of their opponents boast at least eight.

Senior Angel Calloway and junior Larissa Shelby have played major roles for the Indians and were all-section players last season.

Building on that core has allowed Penn Hills to make improvements throughout the season.

“We’ve gotten better in the back row and with developing an attack,” Mitlo said.

While Penn Hills has been eliminated from the playoff chase, the Indians are looking to build confidence as they finish up the section schedule.

Penn Hills will close the year with the two teams behind them in the section, McKeesport and Woodland Hills.

“We have been competitive in a lot of games,” Mitlo said. “If we are able to avoid giving away points, there’s no reason we can’t beat some of these teams. We just need to control the ball and follow the gameplan.”

Tags: Penn Hills