All-American Reisinger, BC3 Collect WPCC Championship

All-American and Lincoln High School graduate Breanna Reisinger had nine kills as the No. 1-ranked Butler County Community College volleyball team won an unprecedented seventh consecutive Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship Saturday with a victory against the Community College of Beaver County.

The Pioneers in BC3’s Field House swept CCBC 25-13, 25-15 and 25-11 in the final and Westmoreland County Community College 25-14, 25-7 and 25-10 in a semifinal of the WPCC championship tournament.

BC3, ranked first among 96 squads in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III since Sept. 19, moved to 17-2 with its 10th win in a row.

The Pioneers will enter the NJCAA Division III Region 20 championship tournament Oct. 22 having swept their past eight opponents.

BC3 in 2021 broke its own WPCC record by winning its sixth conference crown in a row. Its seventh consecutive conference crown Saturday also brings to 18 the number of WPCC titles the program has won since its first in 1977.

All-Americans Morgan Jack had 28 assists and Aslyn Pry added nine kills each for BC3 in the WPCC championship final.

“We played pretty good,” said Rob Snyder, selected Saturday as the WPCC’s coach of the year for the 11th time in a 23-year BC3 career. “We were consistent. We hit the ball really well. We dug well. Consistency has been our main goal, and I think we did that.”

The Pioneers outscored CCBC 10-1 to close the first set and jumped to leads of 10-0 and 8-0 to open the second and third sets, respectively.

BC3 volleyball players selected to the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference’s all-conference team on are (L2R) Aslyn Pry, Breanna Reisinger, Morgan Jack and Madison Raypush.

“We played really well, especially in some stretches,” Pry said. “We had a few moments where we got a little messy, when we weren’t playing as well as we would have liked to be, but we had some really good runs.”

Jack had five service aces in BC3’s 10-0 streak to start the second set against CCBC.

“We are in a groove,” said Jack, the NJCAA Division III Region 20 player of the month for September. “I don’t think we’ve hit our peak yet as a team, but I think we are improving every day.”

4 Pioneers on all-conference squad

Jack, Reisinger and Pry on Saturday were selected to the WPCC all-conference team for a second time and Raypush for a first time.

Jack, a setter, and Raypush, a libero, are Knoch High School graduates; Pry is a middle and outside hitter and Moniteau High graduate; and Reisinger is an outside hitter and graduate of Lincoln High in Ellwood City.

Pry entered the WPCC championship tournament Saturday first in hitting percentage in the NJCAA’s Division III at .457. Jack was third in assists per set with 10.05 and Raypush sixth in digs per set with 6.02.

Jack has had at least 26 assists in 18 of BC3’s 19 matches this season. Raypush’s 23 digs in the WPCC championship final were the most in her past eight matches.

The Pioneers on Oct. 22 seek to defend the second of three titles they won in 2021 en route to a berth in the NJCAA Division III national championship tournament in Rochester, Minn.

BC3 will host Anne Arundel, Howard and Westmoreland County in the NJCAA Division III Region 20 championship tournament.

The Pioneers face Anne Arundel, Arnold, Md., in a semifinal at 11 a.m. Howard, Columbia, Md., plays Westmoreland County at 1:30 p.m. The championship final is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The champion advances to the NJCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic district tournament, whose winner earns an automatic berth to the national championship tournament.

A second consecutive berth in the national championship tournament would be a first for BC3’s volleyball program. The Pioneers finished sixth in the national championship tournament in 2021 and in 2009, and fifth in 2002.

Jack had 37 assists, Raypush 19 digs, and Pry and Reisinger 15 and 13 kills, respectively, against Westmoreland County.

CCBC beat Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in a semifinal (19-25), 25-22, 25-17, (22-25) and 15-11.

BC3’s top-ranked team also includes Abby Young, defense, Redbank Valley; Amber Maurer, outside hitter, Karns City; Abby Granato, outsider hitter, Mohawk; Zoe Morley, opposite, Portersville Christian; Claire Kile, middle hitter, Harvest Baptist; and Becca McCandless, defense, Slippery Rock.

BC3 volleyball players are shown Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Front row, from left, Morgan Jack, Breanna Reisinger, Abby Young, Becca McCandless and Madison Raypush. Second row, from left, Claire Kile, Aslyn Pry, Zoe Morley, Abby Granato and Amber Maurer.