The South Allegheny High School girls' volleyball team met last week to watch the televised match between the United States women's Olympic team and Cuba.

"I wanted the girls to see the camaraderie the players exhibited, the way they supported each other after each play, especially when they made a mistake," said Gladiators coach Laura Thomson, who made her varsity coaching debut last season. "It didn't matter what the score was. They supported each other after every play."

Thomson stressed that concept throughout the 2007 season, South Allegheny's first season of varsity volleyball in a decade.

"We didn't win a match all season, but we did win one game," Thomson said. "The girls celebrated as if we had won the WPIAL title. I don't even remember who we were playing, but I do remember the look on the face of our athletic director, Eric Roche.

"He had a grin from ear to ear. I also remember the look on the face of the head official. He couldn't understand why we were celebrating so much after winning one game."

The Gladiators may have finished in last place in Section 5-AA but that didn't matter.

"The improvement from our first match to the last was significant," Thomson said. "We grew by leaps and bounds. It's hard to tell by just looking at our record, but I could see it. The maturity and skill level of the girls grew throughout the season."

South Allegheny's varsity program was discontinued 11 years ago. A middle school program was added a couple years later with hopes of eventually bringing back the varsity program. Thomson made her coaching debut four years ago as South Allegheny's middle school coach. When the varsity program was resurrected last year, Thomson was the obvious choice as coach.

"One thing that really helped is that the girls and the coaching staff didn't know what to expect," Thomson said. "You've heard the expression, ignorance is bliss. That described us perfectly. We didn't know how strong the teams in our section were.

"We went into every match focussed on personal achievements. Even though we didn't win a match, we still experienced success. When a player finally connected on a spike attempt, placed a serve where she wanted it, or making a perfect pass that led to a point. Those were the successes we focussed on."

Thomson had 17 players on last year's squad, and all were underclassmen.

"At times, it was very tough to keep their spirits up," Thomson said. "But nobody quit. Everybody stood tall and stood proud. They were very proud to wear the South Allegheny uniform."

Four of the 17 did not return for the 2008 season, but Thomson picked up five others, which gives the Gladiators an 18-player roster.

"I had girls playing both varsity and junior varsity last year to pick up more experience," Thomson said. "This year, I have eight players who will play varsity only."

Thomson also made a few lineup changes. Aston Morency, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, has moved from middle hitter to setter, while Emily Gaska, a 5-6 junior, has moved from setter to outside hitter.

"Emily plays for the Elite Volleyball League," Thomson said. "She did a good job as our setter last year, but we needed her as a hitter and back-row player. At the end of the season, I asked Aston to become our setter. She's a natural. She's stepped right in and worked very hard to get ready for the season."

The Gladiators top hitter out of the front row will be Becky Hadam, a 5-10 junior middle hitter.

"Becky has a great vertical leap and great hang time," Thomson said. "She's an all around good athlete."

Other returnees to the varsity team are 5-9 outside hitter Erin Gray, 5-5 senior outside hitter Lauren Steffan, and 5-3 senior defensive specialist Casey Whoolery.

Newcomers to the varsity are 5-9 senior right side hitter April Yeager and 5-5 senior back-row specialist Bre Vozar.

"April is a star pitcher for our softball team," Thomson said. "I recruited her during the offseason. Her pitches are 65 miles an hour. I'm trying to get her arm motion working the other way."

Thomson has high expectations for the upcoming season.

"I want to finish in the middle of the pack in our section," Thomson said. "We will be facing two new teams -- Wilkinsburg and East Allegheny. Both are going through what we went through last year."

Wilkinsburg has been added to the section. East Allegheny has a non-section schedule, with hopes joining the WPIAL in the near future.