Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette
	Hopewell's Becky Novacek is one of Western Pennsylvania's brightest volleyball stars.

There are more girls' volleyball teams in the WPIAL than there are in girls' soccer, track and field or swimming.

Basketball and softball are the only WPIAL girls' sports with more teams than volleyball.

But it's not quantity that is bringing attention to WPIAL girls' volleyball. It's the quality of players on those teams.

The WPIAL is on an upswing in terms of volleyball talent. More players are earning Division I college scholarships from the WPIAL than 10 to 15 years ago, and some are excelling at the college level. A few high school players have gained lofty reputations outside Western Pennsylvania. Hopewell graduate Christa Harmotto was a two-time member of the U.S. Junior National team and is now a standout at Penn State.

Want another example of the district girls' volleyball turnaround? Dig this: Brian Begor has been running the Renaissance Volleyball Club in Mt. Lebanon for 10 years. He has had 36 girls go to Division I colleges in the past six years. In the four years previous, he had less than 15. Some other girls who didn't play for Renaissance also have received Division I scholarships.

"In terms of high school teams, Western Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania overall are middle of the road nationally," Begor said. "We don't have one high school team in the state ranked in the top 100 nationally. But the individual players in Western Pennsylvania have definitely come on."

This season, the WPIAL boasts one of the top players in the state and the eastern part of the country in Hopewell senior Becky Novacek. She already has accepted a scholarship to the University of Dayton. A handful of other players also have accepted Division I scholarships, including Moon's Lindsay Kresch (Northwestern) and Lauren Fanelli (Colorado).

"There are a handful of really good juniors, too," Begor said.

Harmotto is one of the Division I standouts from the WPIAL. She was an honorable mention All-American last year as a freshman and first-team All-Big Ten Conference. Mt. Lebanon graduate Kaleena Walters was the Big Ten defensive player of the year last year at Penn State.

This season, freshman Jamel Nicholas is seeing playing time at Notre Dame. Other players are having success at other Division I colleges.

"I would think things are somewhat cyclical," said Russ Rose, longtime women's volleyball coach at Penn State. "I remember 25 years ago, Norwin and Baldwin were kind of the driving forces in Western Pennsylvania volleyball for the big high schools. Those teams might have had three or four Division I players. Then, it kind of cooled off for a while. Now it's picked back up again. ... There is no question that it's growing in Western Pennsylvania."

Ten to 15 years ago, the WPIAL was producing only a few Division I players a year, and they usually weren't standouts.

Those close to the sport say there are two main reasons for the surge in volleyball talent. First, girls are taking the sport more seriously, playing

it year-round with Junior Olympic and AAU teams. Second, it seems volleyball has been attracting more high-caliber female athletes, who might have eschewed the sport decades ago.

Take Novacek. She was an excellent athlete at a younger age and still is a standout in basketball and track and field. But she made volleyball her No. 1 sport after first trying it in seventh grade.

"I just think it's more enjoyable and more fun than the other sports," Novacek said. "In basketball, it can be so tough sometimes. It seems like other players try to pound on you and injure you. I don't like that. You don't have that in volleyball."

Novacek believes more top female athletes try volleyball now.

"I know we had to cut five freshmen from our team this year," Novacek said. "When I was a freshman, we didn't have to cut anyone because not that many girls came out. I think that shows more athletes are playing."

West Allegheny senior Amy Palko is one of the better players in the WPIAL. The daughter of West Allegheny football coach Bob Palko and sister of Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko, Amy played basketball, softball and soccer in her younger years. But she took a liking to volleyball when she tried it. She started playing Junior Olympic volleyball a few years ago with Renaissance and Shaler coach Kris Ruppert, considered one of the best coaches in the area.

"She just got hooked on it, and I think a lot of girls do when they try it," said Bob Palko. "I knew nothing about volleyball before, but now I love it. You can see the popularity of it growing. I think it's a phenomenal game. There's a lot more strategy than you think, and some of the athleticism of some girls is fun to watch."

In the WPIAL, there are 118 girls' volleyball teams, compared to 95 for girls' soccer, 70 for swimming, 111 for track and field and 38 for tennis. Girls' basketball has 132 teams and softball 128. WPIAL boys' volleyball has 39 teams.

In a way, Title IX has helped make girls' volleyball more popular. Colleges have added women's sports to comply with Title IX, and more scholarships are available. In the 1981-82 school year, there were 226 Division I women's volleyball teams in the NCAA, and 156 Division II teams. In 2004-05, there were 311 NCAA Division I teams and 261 Division II teams. Division I colleges can give up to 12 scholarships. Some parents have realized more scholarship money is available and might have pushed their child toward volleyball.

"We've got girls playing at a lot of different places around the country," said Mike McDonald, chairman of the WPIAL volleyball committee. "Kids are starting to play the sport earlier than ever before. Some get burned out. But, if they stay with it, more of them are getting looked at by colleges."