(Butler, PA) The Butler County Community College volleyball team will seek to capture the program’s 15th consecutive winning record and extend a succession of conference and regional titles behind an All-American, other all-stars and what the longtime head coach says may be his best recruits in years.
All-American Johnna Hill, and Lexi Ruckdeschel, Nina Szymanski and Jozee Weaver return from an 18-6 squad that finished one victory shy of the program’s fourth national championship tournament appearance since 2002.
“Having returning players is important,” said Rob Snyder, whose teams have won 450 matches in his 24 seasons as the Pioneers’ head coach. … “Having returning players who played a lot and contributed on a good team the year before is even better.”
The Pioneers have been ranked in Division III of the National Junior College Athletic Association in each of the past three seasons, including at No. 9 in 2023.
“Really high-caliber players and depth”
Hill, Ruckdeschel, Szymanski and Weaver will be joined by nine first-year players who include setters Adriona Arnold and Anora Robare, outside hitters Dakota Weldon and Molly Bissell, and middle hitter Josie Russo, a first-team all-state, all-WPIAL Section 5 and all-WPIAL selection in Class AA in 2023.
“We have added some really high-caliber players and depth,” Snyder said. “Depth is something we usually don’t have. We brought in two really good setters, and we have a lot of versatile and experienced hitters. They’re tall. They’re athletic. They’re good players. That’s a tough combination to find.”
BC3’s roster is its tallest in at least six years. Russo is 6-1 and Weldon and middle hitter Sabrina Schlott are 5-11.
“We have height this year,” Ruckdeschel said, “which helps a lot.”
Added Weldon: “We are taller and we have bigger hitters.”
Szymanski, a libero, led BC3 in 2023 with 470 digs. Hill, an opposite hitter, was second with 208 and third in kills with 142. Ruckdeschel, a middle hitter, was first in total blocks with 66 and second in kills with 159. Weaver, an outside hitter, was second in total blocks with 39.
Hill, Weaver and Szymanski were Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference all-conference selections in 2023 and Hill and Ruckdeschel, NJCAA Division III Region 20 all-tournament picks.
Hill and Weldon are graduates of Laurel Middle-Senior High School; Robare and Bissell, Slippery Rock; Szymanski and Schlott, Knoch; Arnold, Neshannock; Russo, Freeport; Ruckdeschel, Allegheny-Clarion Valley; and Weaver, Keystone.
Russo “comes from one of the best volleyball programs around,” Snyder said of a Freeport squad that finished 21-3 in 2023. “She is a really skilled player for (6-foot-1). We often get skilled players or tall players, and with her we get a skilled player with size.”
Russo was a four-year varsity starter on a Freeport squad that won a state championship, two WPIAL titles and four section titles. She led the team with an average of four blocks per match in three seasons and ranked second with an average of nine kills per match in her junior and senior years.
Weldon is “super athletic,” Robare is “athletic and can hit,” Bissell is a “versatile hitter” and Arnold is “a really good defensive player,” Snyder said.
Robare and Bissell helped to lead Slippery Rock to a 30-8 record in their junior and senior seasons.
Robare was selected as the Butler County girls volleyball player of the year in 2023 by the Butler Eagle’s sports staff. Her 684 assists in her senior season led Slippery Rock and ranked No. 17 among all players in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. She also had 66 blocks in her senior year and was twice named to the District 10 all-Region 3 second team.
Bissell in two seasons at Slippery Rock had 335 kills, 221 digs and 85 service aces. Her 59 service aces in her senior year ranked No. 17 among all players in the PIAA. She was twice selected to the District 10 all-Region 3 first team.
“Johnna (Hill) is our quickest hitter. She can just finish any play with her powerful swing. … (Jozee Weaver) is the most consistent we have on the outside. … And (Lexi Ruckdeschel) has our biggest swing and gets a lot of kills coming from the middle.”
“Goal is to go to nationals”
Hill, Ruckdeschel, Szymanski and Weaver helped the Pioneers to sweep the Community College of Allegheny County in a dual championship Oct. 21 and win the program’s eighth consecutive WPCC title and fifth NJCAA Division III Region 20 crown in a row.
The Pioneers’ six-match winning streak and season ended a week later with a 3-2 loss to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, Hudson, N.C., in a Division III Mid-Atlantic District final whose winner earned a berth to the national championship tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“It was upsetting,” Hill said. “We worked so hard last year and we just came up one short. The whole goal is to go to nationals. Obviously we want to win nationals, but right now we are just focused on getting there.”
Hill, a left-handed hitter from the right side, is the third NJCAA Division III All-American to return to the Pioneers for a second season since Breanna Reisinger and Morgan Jack in 2022.
“Johnna,” Szymanski said, “is our quickest hitter. She can just finish any play with her powerful swing. She and Lexi and Jozee are different types of hitters. (Weaver) is the most consistent we have on the outside. She’s always dependable and reliable. And (Ruckdeschel) has our biggest swing and gets a lot of kills coming from the middle.”
Hill and Weaver are enrolled in BC3’s health and physical education-teacher education program; Szymanski and Russo, Nursing, R.N.; Arnold and Schlott, criminology; Bissell, business administration; Robare, medical coding and billing specialist; Ruckdeschel, general studies; and Weldon, marketing management.
Other players on BC3’s 2024 roster are Nilah Foley, Butler, outside hitter, health care science; Marly Koleno, Apollo Ridge, defense, Nursing, R.N.; and Virginia Recchia, Slippery Rock, defense, business administration.
BC3 opens its 21-match 2024 regular season by hosting Westmoreland County Community College at 6 p.m. Aug. 22.
The Pioneers were ranked as high as No. 1 in 2022 and as high as No. 3 in 2021. BC3 received votes but was not ranked in an Aug. 19 preseason poll. Snyder is 450-166 through 24 seasons as the BC3’s head coach. Hill received BC3’s 13th All-American award in volleyball since Missy Haney became the first in 1999. Reisinger is a graduate of Lincoln High in Ellwood City and Jack, of Knoch.
