The 2019 volleyball season should be an exciting one, with plenty of talent returning on all nine of the Times News area teams.

It’s no secret that all eyes will be on Panther Valley, as it returns two All-State players and goes for its fourth straight District 11 Class 2A championship.

Jim Thorpe will also be a team to watch, as it will try to get back to the District 11 2A title game and avenge its loss to the Panthers.

Marian — which reached the District 11 1A semis last season — will try to get back to its championship ways as it won six consecutive district championships before last season.

Pleasant Valley has also been a perennial postseason team and will be looking for its sixth straight EPC Mountain Division championship.

This season also features two coaching changes, as Emilie Baker moves over to Panther Valley from Tamaqua, replacing veteran coach Nancy Filer. Meanwhile, Jen Kromer takes over the Raiders program.

PANTHER VALLEY

GOING FOR FOUR ... The Panthers are looking to capture a fourth straight District 11 2A championship after sweeping Jim Thorpe in the district final last season. With a ton of talent returning, the goal is still the same as the past three years - bring home a championship. PV finished the season 21-2 and advanced to the state AA quarterfinals a year ago.

“You can see that this group of girls brings a winning mentality and a championship mentality to everything they do. In practice, in workouts, you can see they’re very focused,” said Panther Valley head coach Emilie Baker, who makes the move to the Panthers from Tamaqua. “They understand too, that they have a target on their back from all their recent success. They know teams aren’t going to just rollover. We need to make sure we continue to work and get better every day.”

ALL STATE TALENT ... The Panthers return two All State players from a season ago in seniors Jenna Dubosky and Olivia Dacey. Dubosky, a two-time selection, had 256 kills last season, while adding 410 assists (734 career). She also had 273 service points (631 career) and 94 aces (201 career). Dacey was dominant up front for PV, collecting 270 kills (423 career), 385 digs (623 career), 137 service points (318 career) and 27 aces (66 career).

SUPPORTING CAST ... Talent is plentiful on the Panthers roster this season with many experienced players returning who made significant contributions a year ago. Erika Dubosky leads that bunch and is a part of the PV’s big three along with Dacey and Jenna Dubosky. Alexis Cooper, Lyddia Malaska, Gianna Steber, Madison Heckman, Natalie White and Abby Vermillion will also all see significant varsity time.

“We’re tough up front. We have size and athleticism, which makes us pretty good defensively, because we get a good amount of double block opportunities,” said Baker. “I like us all around; we have players at every position that work hard.”

MARIAN

GETTING BACK THE GOLD ... Marian has won six out of the last seven District 11 1A titles, including six consecutive. Last season, the Fillies lost in the district semis, but a few position changes and a more experienced team this season could be the recipe needed to get back the gold for the Fillies.

“We were a little inexperienced last season, but we have a lot of key players returning that gained valuable experience,” said Marian head coach John Fallabel. “We changed up seven positions, so everything is new, but this is a good group, a tight group. We’ve been getting better every week, and I’ve been happy with how we looked in scrimmages against very good competition.”

HUSTLE IS KEY ... With all the position changes and the Fillies new look, hustle on the defensive end and serving will be the key to success for Marian. Tatianna Zeleniak, Rhiannon Brady and Macie Mazalusky will all be counted on to be strong for the Fillies in the serving department. “We’re working on putting together a strong serving unit. We have some strong servers, and we want to come up with a rotation that gets us out to good starts in each game,” said Fallabel. “Defensively, I think we can be good. We’re a smaller team, but we’re quick and athletic, and I like our hustle.”

TALENT RETURNING ... Alivia Karchner is coming off an impressive sophomore season in which she led the team in kills and blocks and was named to the 1A All State team. Karchner will move from the middle to the outside this season to give Marian more firepower at that position. Seniors Lacy Blasko and Mazalusky will also be counted on, as will Zeleniak and Brady. Setter Ashlyn Klitsch is also expected to have a good year. Other varsity members include; Kelly Sullivan, Lizzie Snerr, Charlotte Vinson, Rebecca Dzuranin, Rhiannon Dempsey and Jamison Wheeler.

JIM THORPE

MOTIVATED ... The Olympians are coming off a successful season, which saw them go 15-6 and make an appearance in the Schuylkill League playoffs and the District 11 2A title game. Thorpe has lost some key players from last season, but also returns a host of talented players that will once again put them in the mix for the postseason. “We lost some key leaders, but we have a solid returning core of Brandy Montemuro, Abbey McGinley and Autumn Snyder that we will look to for leadership,” said JT head coach Victoria Nichols. “I think the key for us is our versatility. We have a bunch of players that can play multiple positions, which can definitely give us an advantage.”

SMALL BUT MIGHTY ... The Olympians many not be as tall as they have been over the last few years, but athleticism will help to alleviate that.

“We’ve worked all offseason at the track, in the weight room and in the gym to get faster and stronger and that’s helped with our ability at the net,” said Nichols. “Height is something we don’t have an abundance of, but all the other intangibles are there and I think we can use our athletic ability to play good defense and attack the net.”

IMPACT PLAYERS ... Besides Montemuro, McGinley and Snyder, Thorpe has a host of players that will contribute. Katie DeMarco and Grace Baldassano lead that group with Andi Hoherchak, Carsen Rosenberger, Olivia Wolfe and Kristin Pompa all being players that could be breakout candidates.

LEHIGHTON

IMPROVE ... Lehighton is looking to build off an 11-9 record from a season ago where it qualified for a District 11 3A playoff berth. The Indians will look to return to districts and would like to make a run at the very competitive and highly-regarded Schuylkill League playoffs.

A committed group of players in the offseason will be the reason if the Indians can once again get back to the postseason.

“We had a very committed group attending offseason workouts and strength and conditioning sessions, which is showing in the improvement of our overall team athleticism on the court,” said Indians head coach T.J. O’Connor. “Because of our well-attended offseason the girls work together very well. It’s just all about taking all the hard work we’ve put in and converting that over to the court in competition.”

COMING BACK ... The Indians have not only a committed group, but also a talented group returning. Led by sophomore setter Alyssa Frey, who was named to the Schuylkill League All-Star team last season, Lehighton also returns Sophia Solerno, Gina Piccioni, Allison Reph and Emma Schappell. Players who could also see varsity time include; Hailey Miller, Megan Aaron, Danielle Miller and Alexis Solomon.

COMBATING THE SERVE ... One area that the Indians will need to try and shore up will be in defending the serve. However, a team strength going into the season on the offensive end is in the serving department.

“When everything is clicking we’re a pretty good serving team,” said O’Connor. “We do lack some experience in the serve receive, but we hope we can transfer our skills from practice to matches when it counts. I think we have the mental toughness to be able to do it.”

TAMAQUA

IMPORTANT SENIORS ... Tamaqua doesn’t have many returning upperclassmen, but its three seniors will be key to its success this season. Bryn Gigli, Emily Zuber and Alana Troxell will be counted on to provide the leadership for this season’s squad.

“This is a new journey that we are all embarking on together and everyone is excited,” said first-year Tamaqua head coach Jen Kromer, who is a 1994 Tamaqua graduate. “We lost many of the starters from the 2018 season to graduation, but our three seniors will play a key role and we’re going to look for them to be leaders on our new journey.”

IMPACT RAIDERS ... Leading the impact players this season for the Raiders is junior captain Kaytlyn Romig. Gigli is also expected to have a big year as a leader of the offense. Rounding out the lineup are Troxell, Leah Mateyak, Jillian Tite and Christina Modesto. The defense will be led Amanda Wunderlich. Other players expected to make an impact on defense are Emily Zuber and Ember Starr.

NEW START ... Kromer takes over the program after Emilie Baker, who was at the helm of the program for four years, moved on to Panther Valley. Kromer is excited about the opportunity to coach at her alma mater. “Our staff is very excited about the upcoming season. The girls have been working extremely hard in the gym learning new skills and techniques,” said Kromer. “Our staff is looking forward to continuing to push the girls to improve and pave the way for a new start to the program.”

WEATHERLY

REPLACING EXPERIENCE ... Weatherly will have a lot of seniors to replace, losing 10 seniors to graduation. There are some experienced players returning, but the Wreckers will need newcomers in Kelly Michaels, Isabella Maiello, Christal Kislan and Abby Paisley to make an early impact.

“With the loss of so many seniors, this is a year where we will try to rebuild and gain experience,” said Weatherly head coach Nicole Hinkle. “We’re really looking at a fresh start this season, but the girls are excited, they’re eager to get out there.”

RETURNING WRECKERS ... Weatherly has just four players returning that saw significant varsity time last season, meaning they will be counted on to lead this young squad. Haley Gerhard, Cassia Hinkle, Ashley James and Gianna Lowman will provide the veteran presence for the Wreckers.

DEPENDING ON DEFENSE ... As Weatherly goes through some early growing pains, it will need to depend on defense to get off to a solid start.

“We are not a very tall team this year, so we really are trying to focus on being a defensively sound team,” said Hinkle. “We will be going through some growing pains this year as the girls develop their skills, but we should be able to see improvement with every match. We have seen great strides with these girls over the conditioning and practice weeks.”

PLEASANT VALLEY

RETURNING TRIO ... The Bears lost five players from a season ago who saw significant playing time, meaning they will have to replace a solid core, but a talented trio returns to try and help them in pursuit of a sixth consecutive EPC Mountain Division title. Desi Beade, Cameron Caffrey and Ari Thourot will be counted on to keep PV in the postseason mix.

“We lost a good group of seniors from last season, but the three seniors this year have the ability and mindset to lead us,” said Bears head coach John Gesiskie. “It’s a tough group of seniors and they’re very versatile in where they can play.”

VERSATILITY ... Speaking of versatile, Gesiskie believes this is one of the more versatile teams he’s had in a few seasons. Along with Caffrey and Thourot, who will be the setters for the Bears this season, Desi Beade and Andrea Crilley have also played the position in the past in the junior varsity ranks. Having four players on the floor who have played such a pivotal position will be key.

“I really like our versatility, we have four girls who will be on the court who have been a setter at some point, so I’m really like that,” said Gesiskie. “I think that will help with our defense too. I think we can be exceptional defensively.”

HELPING OUT ... The Bears big three will have plenty of help this season. Sarah Frankunas returns after a two-year hiatus at middle hitter, Crilley will be an outside hitter and Lexi Burgos will join Frankunas in the middle and brings height there, standing at 6-0. Freshman Jackie James is also expected to help out at outside hitter.

PALMERTON

NEW DIGS ... The Palmerton volleyball program, which is only a few years old, will have a new home this season with its court now complete. Two years of away games isn’t easy on any program. A strong offseason where the Bombers continued to work on the fundamentals is expected to help the program improve off a 3-12 record from a season ago.

“We’re obviously excited about getting to play on our home court and I think that will make a difference,” said Palmerton head coach Marsha Thomas. “This is a dedicated hardworking group that is now in year three playing together, and you can see things starting to click.”

STRONG RETURNEES ... The Bombers return seven seniors, so leadership won’t be an issue this season. Maddison Beahm returns to lead that group, with her being a second team Colonial League selection Grace Costenbader and Kayla Nothstein are also strong returnees. Breakout players could be Cayci Reichard and Sam Perloni.

“With what we have returning, I think we can be improved this season,” said Thomas. “The goal is to be more competitive in Colonial League play.”

MOVING AROUND ... One thing the Bombers will have to figure out early is chemistry. Coach Thomas did move some pieces around to make her team better equipped to compete this season.

“We have asked some of the players to move into different positions or roles then they are use to in order to make the team stronger,” said Thomas. “We just need to adjust to that and get up to speed quickly in order to be successful.”

NORTHWESTERN

TIGERS RETURNING ... Senior Outside Hitter Sam McGinley (57 kills, 14 digs, 17 blocks last season) leads the Tigers group of returning players. Seniors Chloe Grim and Kylie Wade will be strong defensively and junior Brynn Buschta is moving up to the varsity ranks to be the Tigers setter. Junior Ella Carson is also a newcomer that is expected to make an impact.

“It will take time for the current seniors to adjust to losing such a strong senior class from last season, but this a strong group,” said Tigers head coach Lexi Ashburne. “This year we have five new girls on varsity, and some are adjusting to the shift in intensity from JV to Varsity.”

OUTSTANDING OFFENSE ... What the Tigers may lack in experience they make up for in aggressiveness. This is a group that is going to look to attack offensively whenever they have the chance.

“This year’s team is very strong offensively. We have a lot of strong hitters and aggressive servers,” said Ashburne. “They’re also in the best shape of any recent teams due to summer conditioning and intense practices.”

GETTING BETTER ... The Tigers will look to improve on an 7-11 overall record and a 4-6 Colonial League campaign. Northwestern did get to a district pigtail game last season, losing to Saucon Valley.