BRADFORD, Pa. – The coaches in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference have predicted the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team to finish atop the conference for the third-straight year, officials announced Wednesday.
"It's nice recognition. I think that says a lot about where our program is right now," Head Coach Tom Roof said. "But, as we know, it's not about where you're predicted to finish, but rather where you are at the end of the season that matters."
Roof, the 2016 AMCC Coach of the Year, is entering his fourth season as the Panthers' head coach. He's been a member of the program since 2009, where he served as an assistant coach.
Last season, Pitt-Bradford finished 7-2 in AMCC action, sharing the regular season title with Penn State-Altoona. Coaches in the AMCC predicted the two teams to repeat as co-regular season champions in the 2018 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
After earning the No. 2 overall seed in the AMCC Tournament, the Panthers fell in the conference semifinals to eventual champion Penn State-Behrend.
"We've set high standards this season," Roof said. "We were really disappointed with the way our season ended in the playoffs last year, so we want to go all the way through this year. The girls want it and we think we have the team to do it. But, it's a new season so we have some stuff to sort out first in terms of our lineup."
Pitt-Bradford brings back a solid core from its young and successful 2017 squad, highlighted by four All-AMCC honorees in sophomores Emily Cleveland, Riley Anderson and Laura Hildebrand, and senior Payton Orzech.
"We had a lot of freshmen last season, and they got a lot of experience right away," Roof said of his standout sophomore class. "We were really happy with the way they played their first year here and we're going to be looking to them to step up, take their game to the next level and take on leadership roles this season."
An All-AMCC First Team honoree her freshman season, Cleveland was voted the conference Newcomer of the Year after finishing fifth in the AMCC with 247 Kills and 2.84 kills per set.
Anderson joins Cleveland on the outside. An all-around solid player, she was second on the Panthers last season with 186 kills, 256 digs and 31 service aces.
Other players on the outside Roof will be turning to will be juniors Sydney Shepherd and Katie Sedon, and sophomore Katie Treat. Roof also expects the versatile freshman Faith Williams (Bowie, Md.) to make an immediate impact on both the outside and possibly up the middle.
"Emily and Riley add a lot on the outside," Roof said. "They're big hitters, who are going to be crucial to our team this year to make up for what we lost in the middle. We're going to need much more offense from all of our outside hitters than we've had in the past."
Adding depth on offense are returners Katie Rose, Kamryn Piscitelli, Elizabeth Johnson and Alexandra Segura, who are back for their sophomore seasons. Junior transfer Mercedes Fox (Bridgeville, Pa.) can also play either on the outside or in the middle.
A crucial piece to the success of the Panther offense is Orzech, the All-AMCC setter who led the conference with 371 assists and 9.91 assists per set against AMCC competition a season ago.
"It's a real plus having Payton back for her senior year," Roof said. "She's a leader on the court. The players respect her and listen to her. Payton is just a solid all-around player who knows how to run our offense."
Adding depth as Panther setters are juniors Gesica Ferrar and Caitlin Cipriano (Solon, Ohio).
The Panther defense will be anchored by the All-AMCC libero Hildebrand, whose 190 digs and 5.94 digs per set against conference opponents ranked her second in the AMCC.
Returning in the Panther defense are sophomore Alayna Seggi and junior Meagan Welsh, while freshman Alexis Constantino (Clarion, Pa.) will step in and make an immediate impact. Also bolstering the defense will be freshman Emily Treat (Smethport, Pa.), sophomore Elizabeth Harvey (Howard Co., Md.) and junior Justine Trevino (Burleson, Texas).
Pitt-Bradford opens up its season with four matches in the Scranton Tournament – two on Friday against RIT and Brockport and two more on Saturday against Misericordia and Hood.
The Panthers will then play their home opener at the KOA Arena Tuesday, Sept. 4 against Allegheny at 7 p.m.
Later on, Pitt-Bradford will compete in the Misericordia Tournament (Sept. 7-8) and the Wooster College Tournament (Sept. 14-15) to highlight its non-conference slate.
The first AMCC action of the season is set for Sept. 22, in which La Roche, Mount Aloysius and Hilbert will all be at the KOA Arena for the day as Pitt-Bradford hosts an AMCC Quad.
"We're a very deep team, so what we need to do is settle on a regular rotation in our lineup," Roof concluded. "So that's what we'll be looking to accomplish in our early non-conference matches. We have a very tough non-conference schedule, so we want to set the tone with some wins and have success, but at the same time, we need to get some players used to playing together and be ready to go for the start of conference play. I have a lot of confidence in every single player on this team."
