WINGATE — It’s a good problem to have.
The Bald Eagle Area girls’ volleyball team returned its entire starting lineup, and nearly the whole roster, from last season’s PIAA Class 2A championship squad.
“That’s a tough line to walk,” coach Larry Campbell said. “I struggled with that coming in. Do we not say a thing? You can’t ignore the big gorilla in the room. Everyone knows. You walk in past the trophy (in the lobby outside the school gym), there are banners on the wall, there’s a picture with the state title, so we do have to remind them a lot that it’s 2019.”
It’s the burden that comes with the crown, along with the No. 1 ranking in their class in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches’ Association preseason poll, and an even bigger accolade they learned Sept. 9 — No. 5 in prepvolleyball. com’s Northeast Region rankings. No. 3 North Allegheny, the defending Class 4A champ, is the only other Pennsylvania school on the 20-team list that covers nine states.
“We’re definitely more confident this year,” senior outside hitter Lacee Barnhart said. “You can tell it’s a different atmosphere carrying over to this year.”
With the banners, trophies and praise also comes something else — higher expectations and pressure.
“Last year it was more about wanting it real bad,” senior setter Madison Rockey said. “This year the pressure’s on, everybody wants to come at us and we need to react to that in a good way.”
Campbell admitted the team was ahead of schedule in 2018. He maps out a long-term view of the program, looking at the current roster and what’s rising on the junior varsity and junior high program and projecting into the future. Even in 2016 and 2017 he knew he would have a team contending for a state championship.
“I kind of felt this was the year, if we were going to win a state title, this was the year we were going to have it,” Campbell said. “Last year was a year early. The development of the kids was a little quicker and that was exciting to see.”
The elation of 2018’s success carried into the spring season for the Affinity club team, also coached by Campbell and comprised of BEA players. The early part of the season didn’t see the best effort from the girls.
“We were playing it easy,” Rockey said. “We know that’s not us.”
They recovered and made a trip to Orlando, Fla., for the national championship tournament, encountering dozens of athletes bound for major Division I programs.
When the BEA season opened Aug. 30, hosting Dallastown, the effort was again less than stellar, and the match was extended a full five sets. Campbell thought the team needed the jolt.
“There’s a lot of pressure that’s unspoken, and the kids felt that,” Campbell said. “That match helped us a lot. It woke us up.”
They learned more about themselves Sept. 7, playing at the Bulldog Invitational at Wilson High School near Reading, facing a field littered with some of the best programs in the state, almost all of them bigger than BEA. Campbell felt the team still wasn’t sharp, but the Lady Eagles still had an impressive day. They won their pool that included Class 4A powers Hempfield and Liberty — annually figuring into state title discussions — and in the quarterfinals ousted Cumberland Valley, another contender each season.
“It really opened our eyes,” Rockey said. “We knew we were talented, but this showed us how talented we are and what we’re all capable of.”
Last year, there was the idea they might have a shot at a deep run in the state playoffs.
This fall, they know what they can do, but there are many practices and matches between now and the middle of November.
“You can’t get ahead of yourself,” senior middle hitter Taylor Kilmer said. “Just worry about winning the next point, not even the next game, the next point, and just keep pushing through.”
Every night, they will see the best their opponents have to offer. The BEA players know how to handle that now.
“There’s a target on our backs,” Barnhart said. “We know there are a lot of teams gunning for us, but we want to be back-to-back state champs. If we don’t succeed with that, we’re going to be disappointed.”
