Women's Volleyball at Pitt Greensburg

All Time Records Coach Profile  2001 Results Roster

Season Review Schedule & 2002 Results  Statistics Return to Varsity Sports

The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women’s volleyball team struggled through another losing season in 2002. The Lady Bobcats finished at 4-24 overall, 2-10 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC). However, the record does not indicate how the Lady Bobcats played. Coach Janet Buchheit led the team to several close matches, and UPG continued to improve all season.

Leading the Lady Bobcat attack was junior middle/outside hitter Tricia Palfey (West Newton/Yough H.S.). Palfey led the Lady Bobcats in kills with an average of 3.29 per game, and she also led the team in blocks with 40. For her efforts on the season, Palfey was selected to the AMCC All-Conference Second Team.

Providing assistance for Palfey was junior middle hitter Angelica Carr (DuBois/DuBois H.S.). Carr was named as an AMCC Honorable Mention selection, her third consecutive all-conference selection. Despite battling through injuries all season, Carr still managed to average 2.96 kills per game.

Other team leaders included sophomores B.J. Bertges (Plum/Plum H.S.), Melanie Sparinga (Dawson/Frazier H.S.), and Maggie Wess (Johnstown/Central Cambria H.S.). Bertges, an outside hitter, led the Lady Bobcats in service aces, for the second consecutive season, with a school record 43. Sparinga, an honorable mention all-conference selection in 2001, again led the team in assists with 6.69 per game, ranking 5th in the AMCC.  Wess, a defensive specialist, set a school record for digs with 390, an average of 3.98 per game, which ranked 4th in the AMCC.

Other key contributors were sophomore defensive specialist Jen Grego (Sarver/Freeport H.S.) and freshmen Dee Sutlic (Harrison City/Penn Trafford H.S.), Harmony Ritchie (Smicksburgh/West Shamokin H.S.), and Melissa Wess (Johnstown/Central Cambria H.S.). Grego, a two-year letter winner, averaged 2.53 digs per game this season. Sutlic, who joined the team halfway through the season, averaged 3.98 digs per game. Ritchie helped the Lady Bobcats by averaging 1.35 kills per game. Melissa Wess, the twin sister of Maggie, also finished the season averaging 3.16 digs per game, which ranked 9th in the AMCC.

JANET BUCHHEIT: Coach Buchheit will begin her second season as head coach of the Women's Volleyball team.  Coach Buchheit has seven years of experience in coaching high school girls’ volleyball: three of those years as a varsity coach at Notre Dame High School in Missouri.  There, her teams won two district titles.  She also has coached and organized her own Junior Olympic club team for two years.  Coach Buchheit has been actively involved in sports for most of her life.  She was a varsity starter her freshman year in high school and lettered in volleyball and basketball all four years.  She received numerous honors in high school, which included breaking two state records at the State volleyball tournament.  Coach Buchheit was the first woman to receive a full volleyball scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where she was recognized as Freshman of the Year and Division I Conference Co-MVP her sophomore year.  As an elementary teacher with 6 years of experience, Coach Buchheit is committed to education and will be focused on the academic achievements of her players.

RHONDA COOLEY:  Coach Cooley will begin her second year assisting Coach Buchheit.   She has coached high school volleyball for six years and was the Assistant Coach for one year at her alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, where she received a BA in Health & Physical Education.  While attending Baldwin-Wallace, Coach Cooley played four years of volleyball and softball and three years of basketball.  As a Varsity Coach at Arlington High School in Massachusetts, she took her team to the Eastern State Finals.  She also officiated at the college level for ten years.  Coach Cooley also has coached high school basketball for 3 years and high school softball for 5 years.  Coach Cooley is the mother of two and has been a resident of Irwin for 12 years.  She will bring experience and energy to UPG and looks forward to being a part of a solid, committed women’s volleyball team.

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