After making it to the WPIAL championship last season, but unfortunately losing to the Shaler Titans, the North Allegheny Boys’ Volleyball Team has high expectations for the ongoing season.
Dan Long, the team’s head coach who also teaches chemistry at NASH, said that he is looking forward to spending time with the team the most this season.
“The personal relationships that are built during practice, bus rides, and games between players, coaches and players, and coaches are fun to be around,” Long said.
Nick Carioto, a senior on the team, said, “I am looking forward to my last opportunity of playing in the WPIAL and state playoffs.”
Although the Tigers are enjoying a winning record thus far of 6-1, there have not lost sight of the challenges ahead.
“Some of the teams that we play are pretty hard,” senior Theo Wilkinson said, “but I think just playing and practicing as well as competing for spots with my friends and teammates can sometimes come across as a challenge.”
For Carioto, the challenges are especially intense as graduation approaches.
“My biggest challenge is balancing school, work, and volleyball,” he said.
As it is only Long’s second year as head coach, he is facing difficult decisions in the pursuit of creating an even better team.
“Finding our best combination of players is a challenge,” he said. “We have a lot of really good players, as well as a lot of depth in various positions. It is not necessarily obvious who the best guys might be for a given match, and trying to find the right recipe to put us in a position to win against different opponents isn’t an exact science right now.”
We have a lot of really good players, as well as a lot of depth in various positions.
— Dan Long, Head Coach
Even with the current barriers for the team, many of the players have set lofty goals for themselves this season.
“My goal this season is to win the WPIAL and state championship,” Carioto said.
For Wilkinson, there is one other team in particular that looms large this season.
“My main goal is to have a fun senior season, but I would also like to beat the Shaler Titans this year and win the WPIAL.”
The Shaler rivalry may be the story of the season. The Tigers have faced the Titans twice in the past week in regular season play. After losing last Friday night in the away match, Long’s squad exacted revenge in the home game on Tuesday night.
Both Wilkinson and Carioto emphasized that their favorite part of being a part of this team is spending time with their teammates and having fun on tournament days.
For Long, a former NAVB player during his student years at NA, it’s all about giving back.
“My favorite part about coaching this team is the fact that when I look back on my high school years, teachers and coaches were the most significant adults to me, and I think that having the chance to be involved in students’ lives in this era is really special.”
With the season at the mid-way point, and two more tournaments coming up, the team remains confident in their strength.
“Being a part of the family that we’ve created is the most rewarding aspect of it,” Long said.
