Can the Bobcat volleyball team pull off back-to-back WPIAL champions? Are states in their future or will their journey end at sections? Only time will tell, but volleyball is officially back!

Beaver Area is currently 2-3 on the season.

The Bobcats started the season with a win at home against Quaker Valley August 27. The final score was 3-1.

Compared to last year where the Bobcats went over ten games and 30 sets without losing, this year hasn’t started the way the team would have liked.

Last season the Ladycats were undefeated leading into the WPIAL championships, won against Freeport, and lost in the semifinals of states.

Surprisingly, last season the Bobcats were not projected to win, let alone make the finals, but took down the powerhouse Freeport.

So this season’s slow start is blamed on burnout, sickness, and injury. The team decided to start practicing in the beginning of May—but hasn’t really stopped since last November.

Unfortunately, the Ladycats have not been able to have their full starting roster present at any game yet this season because of a stomach bug currently going through the team.

Following their QV win, the Bobcats served up against the Peters Township Indians August 29.

The Bobcats lost 3-1 against the Indians. The final scores were a close 25-22, 10-25, 25-23, and 25-23.

Freshman Kayden Blinn also earned her spot on the varsity roster with an impressive 9 kills and a hitting percentage of a huge .364.

Junior Anna Vinopal had 13 kills, and junior Jaedyn Brown earned 11 kills. Both girls sat at a hitting percentage of around .175.

Malobabich and Connelly did not play this game due to injuries.

Junior Aubrey Bumblis also had 26 digs.

The game ended in a loss but Peters Township is a 4A school with more resources and a larger team. This means that the Bobcats’ section record remained untouched, but their hope in being undefeated once again was crushed.

The following game for Beaver Area was against Oak Glen High School August 31. This game was extremely close and the Bobcats had to play all five sets, but in the end the Golden Bears walked away with a 3-2 win.

Malobabich proved to be the most valuable player with a whopping 22 kills and a hit percentage of .432.

Brown also had double digits with 13 kills. She consistently averages 10 kills a game and is a reliable player.

Three of the other hitters ranged from two to nine points scored.

Senior Zoe Ringer also had 45 successful assists.

Head Coach Suze Pollins said after these games that “We are injured and sick. We wanted a tougher non-section start and middle of the season, but we can’t get wins with two starters missing from every game. Connelly and Malobabich both had to miss against Peter’s Township, and Brown and Bumblis were both sick against South Fayette.”

These losses didn’t necessarily phase the Bobcats because September 3 the team walked away with a 3-0 win.

The Ladycats played against Eden Christian Academy September 3 and were once again faced with a hard game. The final scores were 25-14, 25-16, and 25-20.

The Eden Christian Warriors are a 1A school but are good for their division, so the Bobcats wanted to face them.

The Ladycats had a low hitting percentage as a team and only had 34 combined kills.

Connelly had 14 kills while Malobabich had 10.

During this game, the team relied on junior Miley Hapach and senior Allie Williams to serve. Both girls had three aces.

Despite Beaver Area having some of the strongest middle hitters in the state, their weaknesses have started to show. The Bobcats have recently struggled with passes and digging, and at this game the team only had 23 successful digs.

Following the win, the Bobcats traveled to South Fayette for a game against the Lions September 5. The game ended in a Bobcat loss of 3-1.

Previously, the Lions were 0-2, so the game against the Bobcats were their first win.

The game took an odd turn when Ringer, the setter, had the highest hitting percentage of .375.

Malobabich and Connelly both had off games, but were still able to have kills of around 35%.

Bumblis had the lone three aces for the Bobcats. She also led the team in digs with 22.

Coach Pollins explained that “I think we will get back on track. We have MAC’s this weekend and this will be the first time the whole team has played. We also are going into our first section games and everyone wants to beat us so we always need to be ready.”

The Bobcats will have a game against Lincoln Park September 10 and are looking for an easy win against the Leopards. They will also play New Castle September 12 and Central Valley September 17.

These games are section matchups where the Bobcats are favored to win by a landslide.