Seton-La Salle teammates help each other succeed
Ryan Kendrick and Bryce Sigg have helped each other and the Seton-La Salle volleyball team succeed. Both earned All-WPIAL honors and will continue their careers in college.
Ryan Kendrick will try out for the men’s volleyball team at Penn State University. An outside hitter for Seton-La Salle, he earned all-district and all-section honors.
Bryce Sigg earned all-district and all-section honors in his first varsity season of volleyball. The recent Seton-La Salle graduate will play at Thiel College.
As best friends, classmates and co-workers, it’s difficult to discern who is indebted to each other more: Bryce Sigg or Ryan Kendrick.
“I got him the job there,” Sigg said of their gig at Bethel Bakery.
“Yeah,” Kendrick said, “and I got him to play volleyball.”
The pair started their athletic careers at St. Thomas More. Neither had played until eighth grade. “We joined as a joke,” they said. “The team though was no joke,” they added. Indeed not. St. Thoams More won the Diocese of Pittsburgh championship that season.
While teammates like Vinnie Dongilli and Jose Esquivel went on to excel at Bethel Park and Central Catholic, respectively, Kendrick, Augie Collins and Jerome Wassel continued at Seton-La Salle. Sigg, however, tried his hand at baseball and made the Rebels’ freshman squad. When he did not make the team his sophomore year, he stopped participating in sports all together. “I didn’t like other sports,” he explained.
Sigg, who entered high school standing 5 feet, 2 inches, didn’t stop growing, nor lose interest in competing. When he reached 6 feet, 6 inches, he no longer could ignore his friend’s entreaties or his own desires.
“I don’t know why I stopped (playing volleyball) but I started again because Ryan told me to,”
Kendrick as well as SLS head coach John Lawrence had their reasons for wanting Sigg on their side. They knew something the recent graduate did not know.
Kendrick said he wanted Sigg to play “because he was extremely tall and we had just lost a senior that was All-WPIAL. We needed a hitter. And, he’s a lefty,” continued Kendrick. “That’s even better.”
Lawrence agreed. “Left-handed hitters are such a commodity,” he said.
With Kendrick on the outside and Sigg on the right side, the pair punched their tickets to the All-WPIAL team while helping Seton-La Salle reach the quarterfinals in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs. The Rebels lost to eventual champion Beaver County Christian, which advanced to the PIAA semifinals, and finished the year at 11-9 overall. In addition, Kendrick and Sigg made the all-section team along with setter Devin Gilfoyle, outside hitter Adam Rusnak and libero Dan Dixon.
“We wouldn’t have been All-WPIAL or achieved anything without the help of each other and our teammates, especially Devin,” said Sigg and Kendrick.
Individually, Sigg added, “I was only hoping I would be good so I was excited (about being named All-WPIAL). I did not expect it. All I really wanted to do was win some games, get some good hits so as to help the team. It’s certainly nice to be rewarded.”
Sigg has been rewarded further. Although he has played only one varsity season of volleyball, he gained the attention of Thiel College. He will continue his volleyball career at the Division III school while majoring in environmental studies.
“Never dreamed this,” said the 17-year-old son of Margaret and John Sigg of Bethel Park. “I never realized this was possible.”
Lawrence, who played at the University of Cincinnati and coached at the college level, recognized Sigg’s potential the day he showed up for practice.
“The first thing you notice about Bryce is he’s tall and left-handed, but he also was really motivated. Sometimes kids drift through high school and never find a connection. But, Bryce found it,” he said. “He was extremely dedicated. He became the kid everybody expected to make the play. We named him a captain and he flourished.
“If I had him for four years, then Thiel would never had touched him,” added Lawrence.
Meanwhile, thanks to Lawrence, who who coached at Point Park, La Roche, Waynesburg, Robert Morris, Behrend, Kendrick has been in touch with Penn State. He has been invited to try out for the Nittany Lions men’s volleyball team. The 18-year-old son of Deborah and Brian from Bethel Park was accepted into the school’s engineering program. Kendrick, who maintained a 4.85 GPA in high school, will major in chemical engineering.
“Ryan has a real shot,” Lawrence said. “He was our most complete player and he has a great work ethic. Also, he was a real good leader along with Bryce and our other captain Ballard Powell.”
Lawrence said that Sigg and Kendrick face the same obstacles making the jump up a level in volleyball. He said the biggest thing is that freshmen are going from being a boy to playing against grown men, ages 20-23. “It takes time to make the transition,” he said.
Lawrence added that physical strength will also play a role because hits have been clocked at 70 miles per hour at the Division I level and serves at nationals have been timed between 60 to 62 mph. “You have to be able to absorb the shock,” he said. “You get numb after a while.”
At the high-school level, Sigg and Kendrick have compiled mind-numbing numbers. According to Lawrence, Sigg had a hitting percentage above .400 and Kendrick’s hovered around .300. Their best performance came in a match against Steel Valley. Sigg had 16 serves, 14 kills and only one hitting error for a .812 hitting percentage. Kendrick had 17 serves and 12 kills.
“We are real excited for both of them. Ryan will have to learn a new position, and Bryce, when he looks across the net, will see that they will be as tall as he is right now. He’ll have to develop his leg skills to generate his vertical leap and hit back. They both have to lift and get stronger.”
A passion for sports has enabled Kendrick to become stronger. He was one of the many players on the SLS team that also competed on the soccer squad. The Rebels won a WPIAL title in 2015.
“My best memories have been from playing soccer because we won the WPIAL championship and going to states. Well, you can’t beat that,” Kenrick said. “I will miss soccer but I like volleyball more. I love the game. I watch it all the time and study the game even when it’s not us playing. I watch the college level and clubs.
“I’m athletic,” he continued. “And soccer has helped with footwork and moving off the ball. So even though I have not played the position and the transition to college will be challenging, I think the best part of the game is passing and being strong in the back row. My hope is to red-shirt my first year and then I hope to help the team win a few championships.”
Meanwhile, Sigg has broad aspirations. He knows that had he played throughout high school his skills would have been more advanced. He also would possess more experience. “But,” he said, “I’m excited to see what’s in store for me. I want to get a lot of playing time. Time will tell.
“I’m really glad that I decided to play. For sure,” he added of his decision to play volleyball his senior year. “It’s been fun. I’m very excited about this next step although I certainly have a lot of work cut out for me. Through all of this, though, I’ve learned that you can’t give up. Keep trying,” he said. “It’s work out so far.”
Thanks to one another, things certainly have worked out for Sigg and Kendrick.