(Butler, PA) Rob Snyder won his 400th career game as coach of the Butler County Community College volleyball team Monday night as the Pioneers swept Penn State-Beaver at BC3’s Field House.
The Pioneers, whose roster is composed of only first-year players, beat the Nittany Lions 25-8, 25-10 and 25-9 to move Snyder’s 22-year record at BC3 to 400-153.
“The thing I told the players is that this is for them,” Snyder said after briefly donning a gift gray T-shirt with “400” on its back.
“This is for all of the players who have played here. They all did this. They all contributed to it. I’m proud to be the coach here and I’m very proud of our tradition.”
The sweep was the fourth of the season for BC3. The Pioneers are 5-0 for the third time since 2012.
Abby Granato and Breanna Reisinger had three points each as BC3 outscored Penn State-Beaver 14-1 during a first-set run to take a 15-4 lead.
“We were trying so hard” to give Snyder his 400th victory, said Granato, a freshman outside hitter and Mohawk High School graduate. “In the beginning, in the locker room, we were making it very clear that we were giving it our all tonight just so that he could have this victory, and all of us could too.”
Reisinger, a freshman outside hitter and graduate of Lincoln High in Ellwood City, led the Pioneers with four aces and added seven kills against the Nittany Lions.
"This is for all of the players who have played here. They all did this. They all contributed to it. I’m proud to be the coach here and I’m very proud of our tradition."
“Rob,” Reisinger said, “was very quiet about this. He didn’t want to make a big deal that it was his 400th win. But obviously we knew that and we wanted to win it for him.”
Morgan Jack, a freshman setter and Knoch graduate, had 23 assists for BC3. Lainey Tobolewski had 18 digs and Madison Raypush, 13. Tobolewski is a sophomore libero and Seneca Valley graduate and Raypush, a freshman outside hitter and Knoch graduate.
Aslyn Pry, a freshman middle hitter and Moniteau graduate, had 10 kills for the Pioneers, who last opened a season at 5-0 in 2016. BC3 that year started 14-0 and finished 21-3.
“I think we are playing very well,” Pry said. “We’re in a system. We have a lot of players who can step up at any moment and do what they need to do. We all work well together. We keep the energy up and we just keep pushing, even if we have a bad set or a bad game. We are looking more toward the end of the season. This is just a milestone in it.”
The Pioneers have had 11 consecutive winning seasons and 18 under Snyder. BC3 is seeking its sixth Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference title in a row and third consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Region 20 crown.
Snyder “always has his teams ready to play, ready to compete,” said Sean Cleary, Penn State-Beaver coach. “I wish my team would have brought a little bit more for his team and played a little bit more competitively, but he’s a great coach and he has a great team.”
The Nittany Lions’ Breann King, Ramiya White and Ana Luisa Galante missed the game because of injuries, Cleary said.
King is a senior middle hitter from Houston, Pa., White is a senior hitter from Westland, Mich., and Galante is a sophomore defensive specialist from Pittsburgh.
Heaven Bowman, a senior libero from Houston, Texas, led Penn State-Beaver with 21 digs. Maria Slater, a senior middle hitter from Houston, Texas, had five assists for the Nittany Lions, and Katrina McCall, a freshman outside hitter from North Port, Fla., had three kills.
BC3 did not play in 2020 as a result of an NJCAA decision to postpone athletics with regard to COVID-19.
The Pioneers host Penn State-Shenango at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Penn State-Beaver (0-6) visits Penn State-New Kensington at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
