By ERIC KNOPSNYDER
NORTHERN CAMBRIA — They are the core of the Colts.
Seniors Janae Dunchack, Breanna Kochinsky, Ariel Rocco and Jess Rocco were the engine that powered the Northern Cambria volleyball team to the PIAA Class A title on Saturday at Central York High School.
They are the players that coach Mike Hogan turned to in the offseason, telling the then-juniors that if they wanted to put the disappointment of last season's first-day elimination at York behind them they needed to take on bigger roles.
“They were just part of it last year,” Hogan recalled. “I said, ‘You’re not part of it, you’re IT. You’ve got to make it happen next year.’ ”
The seniors, along with some great play Northern Cambria's underclassmen, certainly did make it happen. The Colts rolled to another Heritage Conference title – winning the school’s 100th consecutive league match along the way – and a sixth consecutive District 6 title. But the emphasis at Northern Cambria is really on what happens at the state tournament.
Northern Cambria beat Jefferson-Morgan in the first round of the state tournament to advance to York and entered the competition with a 22-0 record and ranked first in the state. After a first-match sweep of second-ranked North Star and a victory over Clarion, the Colts fell to defending champion Reading Holy Name in pool play.
“We weren’t happy with our performance at all,” Jess Rocco said of the loss to Holy Name.
“We knew we had to come out and play so much better (on Saturday).”
The Colts certainly did that, dominating Nativity BVM in a semifinal sweep and then sweeping Holy Name for the state title.
Fittingly, the match ended with a point from one of Northern Cambria’s seniors. Outside hitter Ariel Rocco, who was playing on the left side, went cross-court, finding an open spot on the right side for the title-clinching point.
“I was so happy for Ariel to get the match point,” Hogan said of the versatile senior. “It shows how far she’s come.”
Jess Rocco has also made great strides according to Hogan. He asked her to become the team’s libero, or defensive specialist, as a junior, and it took her time to adapt.
“She just wasn’t ready to be that, but she was the toughest kid we had. I said, ‘You know what? I need to have a tough kid out there,’ ” Hogan recalled.
“She’s still one of our toughest kids. She really turned into a self-made volleyball player. She worked hard on her skills to become a starter and probably one of the best liberos in Class A.”
Kochinsky has always had talent, but Hogan said that she had to put everything together to become the devastating outside hitter that she is now.
“Breanna has unbelievable court sense and a live wire for an arm,” he said. “She can whip that arm from just about anywhere. But I think the biggest thing for Breanna has to be the level of maturity from last year to this year. She had to be the leader last year as a junior, and she wasn’t ready for it. This year she grew into a great leadership role, and the kids rallied around each other.”
Kochinsky said that taking on that leadership role helped raise her game as well.
“It made me play better knowing that everyone looked up to me,” she said.
Dunchack is an undersized middle hitter who looks up to almost all of her opponents. But she’s able to overcome her height disadvantage with great leaping ability that has enabled her to win three state championships in the high jump.
“She’s 5-6 playing middle against all of these 6-footers,” Hogan said. “She's got the quickest jump.”
But that athleticism isn’t her only attribute.
“She's got unbelievable poise,” Hogan said. “If we’re down (or) we’re up, Janae’s steady. She calms everybody down.”
She also has the ability to fire the Colts up with a key block at the net. Ariel Rocco does it with a well-placed serve. Jessica Rocco relies on her amazing ability to dig out balls that seemed destined to hit the floor.
For Kochinsky, it’s a monster spike that can give her teammates a spark.
The four seniors each bring something different, but collectively, they’ll leave something behind at Northern Cambria.
“They have a nice legacy when they leave here,” Hogan said.
“Those four seniors have been nice contributors.”
