Nov 4, 2015 4 min read

It was not long ago that Washington County was considered a good area for girls volleyball, even if local teams found the WPIAL’s gold championship trophies rather elusive.

Bentworth, under head coach Greg Spridik, fashioned a 107-18 record over seven years and advanced to the PIAA tournament. The Bearcats went undefeated in section play for three consecutive seasons.

Beth-Center, under coach Andy Medved, advanced to pool play at the PIAA Championships at Shippensburg in 2003.

Before that, there were many talented volleyball players and teams from Washington County. Coach Larry Myers annually produced highly competitive squads at Trinity. Washington produced Julie Gaul, who went on to be one of the best players at Pitt. Ringgold, Immaculate Conception and Mon Valley Catholic, the latter two closed for many years, also had strong volleyball programs.

So it has been somewhat shocking that Washington County schools have struggled mightily in postseason play in recent seasons. This year, seven schools qualified for the WPIAL playoffs. They combined to go 0-7. Only Peters Township and Beth-Center were able to win games, losing contests by 3-2 scores. The other five teams were swept.

Washington County is 0-15 in postseason play over the last three years. You have to go back to 2012, when Peters Township and Chartiers-Houston each won first-round matches, to find wins for Washington County schools.

Waynesburg and Carmichaels gave Greene County two wins in this year’s playoffs as each won a preliminary round match.

So what has happened to girls volleyball in Washington County? Girls soccer certainly has been on the rise as Peters Township has won three state championships, Canon-McMillan advanced to the PIAA title game last year and Charleroi will play for a WPIAL title Saturday.

Has soccer hurt volleyball?

Haley Wilson played on three Bentworth volleyball teams that went undefeated in section play (2006-08) and is now the Bearcats’ head coach. She has noticed the local struggles in the sport but thinks it has more to do with dedication than better athletes opting for soccer instead of volleyball.

“When I played, everybody on the team played club volleyball in the summer,” Wilson said. “Now, it’s like pulling teeth to get kids to play club. I know it’s expensive to play club, but it’s really a commitment issue. I know, at Bentworth, kids today want to get that three-sport award. They play as many sports as they can, but they don’t try to get really good at just one. A lot of our volleyball players, their No. 1 sport is softball, so they play that during the summer.”

Wilson said club teams in the area are few and far between. She mentioned one started last year in Southpointe and there is one in Uniontown in Fayette County.

“Washington County in general is struggling in volleyball,” Wilson admitted. “We started making history in Washington County with Beth-Center and Bentworth. Now, we’re saying, ‘What can we do to get it back to where it was?'”

Wilson said she wants to offer camps to get young players interested. Wilson knows she’s not the only coach in the area who has seen interest in volleyball decline.

• Jerry Kill, a guy who by all accounts is well-liked at the University of Minnesota and throughout the Big Ten, announced his retirement last week as the Gophers’ head football coaching during an emotional news conference.

Kill, citing advice of his doctor, said he he risked serious neurological problems if he continued to coach. Kill’s battle with epilepsy had been well-documented. He suffered seizures during two games in 2011. He also had seizures on the sidelines once in 2012 and again in 2013.

Kill, much as he did at Northern Illinois, rebuilt a struggling program and made it annual contender for postseason play.

How many people remember that Kill was a finalist to succeed Jeff Petrucci as California University’s head coach in 1993? Kill didn’t get the job. It went to Kevin Donley, who guided the Vulcans to an 11-33 record over four seasons.

• Consol Energy Park will host its annual high school baseball tripleheader April 16. It feature six of the best teams in the area.

Carmichaels will play Bentworth in the opening game. Both were in the Class A playoffs a year ago. California, the WPIAL Class A runner-up last spring, will play Waynesburg, a Class AA postseason team, in the middle game of the tripleheader.

The nightcap will match Peters Township against Upper St. Clair in a matchup of Quad-A teams.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com.