Welcome to This Hits Different, a weekly segment on the Fan Morning Show that looks at some remarkable stories involving high school student-athletes in Western Pennsylvania.
In the first edition of This Hits Different, KDKA Radio Reporter and 93.7 The Fan host Shelby Cassesse documents the creation of the Riverside High School girls volleyball program, which is making history in 2021.
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This Hits Different: Riverside girls volleyball ‘pioneers’
The Riverside girls volleyball program was founded on community and selflessness. And a long-time dream of head coach Marcie Young.
“It was like a 10-year plan that when we moved into the district,” Young said. “I knew this was the only school district that never had a program. I wanted to give that opportunity to not only my daughter, but my son and the kids because they love volleyball.”
The district in Beaver County never before offered a volleyball program in its 60 year history, despite what senior Samantha Prestia says is overwhelming popularity among students.
“We always play in gym. That's what we do every day for pretty much a year,” she said. “We do tournaments in the winter and in the summer. We've always kind of had an interest in it.”
So, after checking off the formalities and paperwork, Young started with a few Facebook posts to get the word out, followed by open gyms and camps to gauge interest.
Young never could have predicted the turnout.
“We opened it up from 4th grade to 12th grade because we figured, at that point they all knew nothing about the sport because there's nothing here that they knew other than gym class,” she said. “We had 57 kids sign up.”
What started as anxiety for Young over having enough girls for one team is now anxiety over ordering enough jerseys and equipment.
The Riverside community has helped with that.
“Riverside has helped us fundraise immensely,” Young said. “We did two different, big fundraisers and the first fundraiser raised us $4,000.”
So, with new backpacks, practice gear and jerseys in hand, the Riverside volleyball program begins its inaugural season as a club program.
WPIAL and PIAA rules require new programs to operate as an independent club for two years.
That means upperclassmen like Prestia will never play in an official game. But that didn't matter.
“I'm here for the girls too. I want to make sure they have a good first year and that I can help them in any way,” Prestia said. “My sister's on this team. I want to help her as much as I can. So, I'm here to help them, as well. I just want to help them get to their best potential.”
And for Young – a former Duquesne volleyball player – that means her new role won't come with a paycheck. But she says it's all about her desire to see the game grow.
“These girls are pioneers now of this sport to show to Riverside that this is fun,” she said. “We can do anything if we put our heart to it.”