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Bethel Park netters off to great start

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Under first-year head coach Brooke Muraco, the Bethel Park girls volleyball team is off to a sensational start this season.

The Lady Hawks captured the championship in the Mt. Lebanon tournament. Then they recorded section wins against rivals Upper St. Clair, 3-2, and Peters Township, 3-1.

The nine-team Lebo tournament included the host Blue Devils, Pine-Richland, Shaler, Penn-Trafford, Fox Chapel, Peters Township, Seton-La Salle and Norwin. After pool play, the Lady Hawks swept Nortwin, 25-17, 27-25, in the semifinals. They defeated Peters Township, 2-0, by identical 24-22 scores in the championship match.

While no all-tournament team was selected, outside hitters Brenna Manko, a senior, and Alexa Pstoka, a sophomore, submitted “standout” performances.

Juniors Aaliyah Brown, Maddie McDaniel and Riley Sullivan join the duo up front as hitters while seniors Jessie and Jackie Kogler serve as defensive specialists for the Lady Hawks. Senior setter Emma Puzausky rounds out the starting line-up.

“This group of girls work together very well,” said Muraco. “That’s one of our biggest strengths.”

The Lady Hawks also benefit from the play of senior Maddie Rago, juniors Megan Shakespeare, Madelyn Marzina, Caitlin Wahal and Elsie Eason as well as sophomore Lucia Coccagno.

In addition to team work, the Lady Hawks believe in the Muraco’s system. She has coached high school and club volleyball for eight years. She played NCAA Division III volleyball for Penn State-Behrend. As a four-year starter, she earned numerous all-conference awards and weekly recognitions through the AMCC and ECAC as a setter. She also was honored as the Female Athlete of the Year in 2010.

A South Park resident, Muraco is a sixth-grade teacher at Carnegie Elementary School.

She acknowledges that the Lady Hawks are off to a fast start but there is plenty of play ahead. After upending Bishop Canevin, which is ranked No. 1 in Class A, 3-1, on Sept. 10, the Hawks host No. 3 Oakland Catholic at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 and No. 5 Pine-Richland on Sept. 17.

After participating in the South Fayette Tournament on Sept. 22, Bethel Park visits second-ranked Baldwin on Sept. 25.

“We have a goal to finish in the top three of our section and make a WPIAL playoff appearance,” Muraco said of BP’s goals.

“We are not trying to get ahead of ourselves. We are focusing on one team at a time in our section,” she continued.

In Quad-A girls’ volleyball, North Allegheny is the team to beat. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association again ranks the defending WPIAL champions No. 1 this season.

“NA always has a solid team,” said Muraco. “I would say that they are the team to beat in AAAA.”

NOTES: The WPAVBCA named Lauren Valentic of Peters Township one of its Players of The Week for Sept. 3. Baldwin’s Allison Murray, Central Valley’s Kelsey Dickson and Freeport’s Sarah Hettich joined the junior middle hitter on the list.

For the second week of the season, Katie Weston, a junior libero from Canon-McMillan shared the Quad-A honors with Latrobe senior setter Carly Augustine. Jenni Pitts, a senior middle hitter from Seton-La Salle, gained the recognition as Class AA Player of the Week.

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