Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy athletics did you know?

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, December 3, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Went up to the attic and pulled this column idea out of the dusty cedar chest:

Did you know that?

• Nora Hammond is a two-sport athlete at Quaker Valley, competing in girls volleyball and softball. A 5-foot-6 junior outside hitter, she was all-section selection and boasts a 4.22 GPA.

Hammond also is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, student council and prom planning committee, and was named vice-president of MePower, a charity founded by QV junior Kirsten Close that specifically addresses period poverty in homeless, trafficked and underserved girls and women.

“I am excited to be part of an organization that is working to help women address period poverty in an innovative way that creates economic opportunities for them,” Hammond said.

• This will be the first time in 23 years the Sewickley Academy boys basketball team will be without Win Palmer on the bench. Palmer, Sewickley’s former basketball coach, golf coach and athletic director, died earlier this year.

“This will be very challenging,” SA first-year coach Jim Dudas said. “Nevertheless, we are looking forward to the start of a new season.”

• QV senior Annica Kagle, a 5-11 right-side hitter and a Catawba College (N.C.) recruit, has been playing volleyball since seventh grade.

She has been voted all-section, All-WPIAL and all-state during her time with the Quakers, and has competed for Pitt Elite for three years.

Kagle also is a member of the National Honor Society and QV softball team.

• Quaker Valley’s girls volleyball team made history by going undefeated this season in its section and winning the section title. This will be the first girls volleyball banner to be displayed in the high school gym.

• Mike Vavrek has been QV’s girls volleyball coach for 13 seasons. Overall, he has coached for 19 years.

• Nolan Donnelly was the leading scorer and rebounder in boys basketball last year at Sewickley Academy, averaging double digits in both categories.

• Former Quaker Valley standout Andrew Wormsley is a member of the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Legends Hall of Fame.

A Sewickley native, the 6-6 Wormsley led the Quakers to the 1997 WPIAL Class AA title and was inducted into the Westminster Titans Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was also inducted into the QV High School Hall of Fame in 2012.

Wormsley lives in Riverside, Calif., where he works in the film industry. He’s married with two children.

• J.J. Veshio, QV’s boys soccer coach, has lost just 13 games in four seasons. Veshio’s coaching record after four years is 72-13-1.

• QV senior student-athlete Gavin Fallgren (C/3B) has made a commitment to John Carroll, where he plans to continue his baseball career.

Fallgren’s sister Meredith is a sophomore member of the QV girls lacrosse program.

• Sam Brackney is a 6-2 junior center from Sewickley on the WPIAL Class 6A runner-up Central Catholic football team.

Brackney is being recruited by a number of colleges, including Army, Navy, Penn and Yale.

One of his teammates with the Vikings is Elijah Faulker, a 5-10, 190-pound junior running back from Moon. Brackney and Faulker, who have been friends for years, both formerly played football at Quaker Valley.

• Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier was attempting to accomplish a rarity in the WPIAL by winning a football title in Year 1 as a first-time head coach.

Since 2000, only five coaches have accomplished that feat: Union’s Kim Niedbala, Aliquippa’s Mike Warfield, Quaker Valley’s Jerry Veshio, Clairton’s Wayne Wade and Rochester’s Gene Matsook.

• Austin Heinl, QV’s second-year wrestling coach, is a Shaler graduate.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy