‘Journey begins now’ for Franklin Regional girls volleyball team

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 7, 2018 | 7:27 PM

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The warm-up jerseys for the Franklin Regional girls volleyball team have “the journey begins now” written on the back of them.

The phrase is the motto for a team that graduated only one player, and the Panthers are ready to embrace a change of scenery with a brand new section slate after moving from Class 4A to 3A.

After gaining experience in a winless section season against teams like Penn-Trafford, Norwin, Latrobe and Hempfield, Franklin Regional moves into Section 1-3A with Armstrong, Kiski Area, Gateway, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, McKeesport and Woodland Hills.

The Panthers got off to a good start by sweeping McKeesport, 3-0 on Tuesday.

“It’s definitely a new avenue for us,” Franklin Regional coach Mike Feorene said. “In Quad-A, I thought we were competitive, but if you look at the size differences in schools, it just makes sense where we are at now. We’re with schools that are more like us size-wise, but that doesn’t take away anything from their ability to play the game. Armstrong moved into our section, and they were the WPIAL runner-up in Quad-A last year.

“I think we’ve become much more competitive this year in where we will fit into the section, but I also know that we will have our hands full, because there are some quality teams.”

Franklin Regional graduated setter Julia Petrucci, but returns seven players who either started or saw significant playing time.

Maddie Breitkreutz, Rachel Reppermund and Paige Feorene are outside hitters. Caitlyn Frantz moves from middle hitter to opposite hitter, Gracie Painter is a defensive specialist and Aly Kindleberger and Hannah Flick are middle hitters. Kindleberger, who’s 6-foot-2, and Flick, who is 5-11, bring size to the front line.

Breitkreutz and Painter, who are seniors, are the captains.

Feorene was pleased with their play at the annual tournament they host Sept. 1. The Panthers hosted Elizabeth Forward, South Park, Penn Hills, Hampton, Plum, Frazier and Greensburg Salem. Franklin Regional finished second to eventual champion Elizabeth Forward in pool play and lost to South Park in the quarterfinals.

Feorene also has liked the way the team has practiced thus far, and everyone is excited to see where their depth can lead them.

“They are meshing well on the court,” Feorene said. “We’re able to run our system better than we ever have in the last five years of being here, mainly because they are comfortable in what we are doing. Even though some of them don’t have a lot of experience, all the kids in the program have been trained in the same system, so they know it well when they get to me.”

Aside from Armstrong, Kiski Area, and now McKeesport after playing them on Tuesday, the Panthers will face mostly unfamiliar opponents in section play, but most teams won’t know much about them either. With one more section win then all of last season under their belts, they hope to continue trending upward and possibly sneak up on some teams in the process.

“All the other teams are looking at if they know anything about us is that we went 0-10 in section play last year,” Feorene said. “I kind of like that fact if they know we were 0-10, because I think they’ll be surprised when they see what we actually put on the court. We have some height, and we have a good group of athletes. I’m looking forward to it.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional