The local volleyball season is expected to be highly competitive this year.
Perennial area power Calvary and last year’s top Western Maryland Athletic Conference sides Mountain Ridge and Northern each lost a collection of talented seniors, and Fort Hill is expected to be improved.
In West Virginia, Frankfort recently ended Calvary’s 82-game win streak that dated back to 2017.
Keyser also has a talented young roster, and Hampshire expects another highly competitive season.
Here’s what to expect across the local high school volleyball landscape:
Allegany
Head coach: Cassie Murray
2023 record: 8-10
Key losses: Ada McFarland, Kinsey Hostetler
Key returners: Ava Strother, Mackenzie Monahan
Coach’s quote: “With four returning starters and the juniors coming up that are equally talented, we are going to be strong all around. The entire squad is eager and ready. Their hard work this summer and excitement to play is contagious. One thing I love about this area is that we have some of the strongest volleyball programs statewide for 1A. We need to win some of those big games during the season, to have the confidence come payoffs. We found our flow late in the season last year and that’s not going to happen this year.”
Bishop Walsh
Head coach: Bailey Godlove
Key losses: Autumn Hoppert
Key returners: Grace Elliott, Rachel Wharton
Coach’s quote: “My expectations for this year are to continue to teach the girls the game and fundamentals. For all of our players to get stronger both physically and mentally.”
Calvary
Head coach: John Wall
2023 Record: 22-2
Key losses: Bethany Carrington, Shilah Ganoe, Traci Michael, Allie Scritchfield
Key returners: Arabella DeValk, Hope Potts, Paula Ganoe, Allie Maust
Coach’s quote: “This season may be viewed as a rebuilding season, but Calvary fully expects to be there at the end of the season playing for a title. We are going to push every opponent to bring their best games. The combined experience this young team has stretches out over 33 seasons of competition. Our smaller size just means we need to learn more ways to score. Our heart, passion and skill will make up for our size.”
Fort HillHead coach: Jordan Fradiska
2023 Record: 6-9
Key returners: Jovie Breitfeller, Jaiden Fradiska, Kamryn Rice, Talia Young, MaeLeigh Plummer, Tatum Bishop
Coach’s quote: “Our expectations for this season are to take it one game at a time, get better individually, as well as a team. I believe if we focus on getting better together, we will be successful. Every day we walk into the gym, the goal is to be better than yesterday. Obviously, we want to improve on last year’s record (6-9) and with putting in the hard work at practice, I feel we can achieve that.”
Hampshire
Head coach: Megan Fuller
2023 record: 14-18-2
Key losses: Eliza VanMeter, Dakota Strawderman, Jocelyn Hartman
Key returners: Kora McBride, Addy Brill, Sarah Pownell (seniors); Hisely Keiter, Summer Giffin (juniors)
Coach’s quote: “We are hoping for a more successful postseason this year. I believe we will be competitive with all of our opponents in the regular season and are looking to grow to be able to maximize our speed over the year. Our team has put in tremendous time and effort in the offseason, and I would love for them to reap the fruits of their labor.”
Keyser
Head coach: Brian Kesner
2023 record: 15-13
Key losses: Lily Saville, Amaya Bartlett, MaKayla Gillaspie
Key returners: Rylee Mangold, Autumn Kerchner, Miley Portillo
Coach’s quote: “Keyser is very young this year with a pair of sophomores on the outside, we are also running four freshmen in our rotation. This year’s squad has a ton of potential to be very good. This is my third year as the varsity coach and to date this is my best team in terms of work ethic, speed and the desire to win. We know we have to grow and get better each match to be where we need to be in October.”
Mountain Ridge
Head coach: Valery Broadwater
2023 record: 11-5
Key losses: Mia DeCarlo (Co-WestMAC Player of the Year; now playing volleyball at College of Southern Maryland), Avery Tipton (All-WestMAC; playing volleyball at Allegany College of Maryland), Reghan Sivic (All-WestMAC; track and field at Frostburg State University)
Key returners: Ryan Whitehead (All-WestMAC honorable mention), Makenna Conway, Makayla Ziler, Macy Barth, Kealana Pua’auli
Coach’s quote: “We are looking to continue the winning tradition of volleyball at Mountain Ridge and be competitive in each and every match.”
Northern
Head coach: Jamie Bailey
2023 record: 12-3
Key losses: Ady Taylor (Co-WestMAC Player of the Year), Maddy Kilduff, Kaydance Beacy
Key returners: Demi Ross, Callie Pudlak, Maddie Hook, Brook Bowman, Natalie Reed
Coach’s quote: “I have very high expectations this year. Not just a winning season but genuinely a fun season. I have a great group of girls who are a joy to work with.”
Editor’s note: Frankfort and Southern didn’t respond to a request for preview information.