Pine-Richland girls volleyball ready to walk tough road to playoffs

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, September 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The road to the playoffs in Section 1-4A girls volleyball has always been tough, but the addition of North Catholic for 2024 has made the group even stronger.

Add in the fact that only three teams from the section will qualify for a postseason berth instead of four, like in previous years, and there’s an argument to be made that it’s the toughest it has ever been.

That’s what lies ahead for Pine-Richland, but the Rams have a battle-tested group that features one of the top high school players in the country in Isabelle Hoppe.

The Rams won a WPIAL title in 2022 and made the semifinals last season.

“Our section has always been the best in our classification, and at one point, there were four and sometimes five teams that made the playoffs, but with only three going this year, we have to make sure that there’s no question about our standing within our section,” Rams coach Angela Seman said. “We have some of the best volleyball in the state in our section.”

Seven-time defending state champion North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, Butler and North Hills are also in Section 1 with the Rams.

Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley and North Allegheny were WPIAL semifinalists in 2023.

Hoppe, a Pitt commit, is ranked as the top setter in the country in the 2026 class by Prepvolleyball.com. She played with the USA Volleyball U19 team over the summer and won gold at the 2024 NORCECA U19 Continental Championship in Honduras. Team USA beat Canada, 3-1, in the final.

“I’ve known Isabelle for about seven years and it’s been fun to watch her grow as a player, but more importantly a leader and a young woman,” Seman said. “It takes a very special person to handle the stress and being in the public’s eye of being one of the top players in the country at 16 or 17 years old. She does it with poise and respect for not only herself, but her teammates. She definitely pushes the team to be better because she’s played at the highest level she can at the moment. She knows what good volleyball looks like and holds the team accountable to never settle for being just OK.”

Along with Hoppe, senior outside hitter Tiffany Gathers, senior opposite hitter Taylor Waeckerle, junior libero Megan DeKunder, junior middle hitter Valerie Menke, sophomore middle hitter Piper Vogel and sophomore outside hitter Sophie Kessinger are returners to the rotation.

Gathers, Waeckerle, Hannah Schwab and Skylar Warren are the Rams’ four seniors.

“I like to say that we’re a veteran team, but a very young team,” Seman said. “We’re returning a lot of players that played for us last year, but we also have a lot of new players joining the varsity team, so that makes us young in a sense. To only have four seniors makes us a pretty young team.

“I’ve been telling the girls ever since tryouts that seeding doesn’t matter. Where people think we should finish doesn’t matter. What matters is how much effort and drive that we have throughout the season to achieve the goals we have as a team.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland