The girls' volleyball teams at Mars Area and Knoch high schools are familiar with the WPIAL playoffs.

Mars earned its 14th consecutive WPIAL Class AA playoff berth by winning the Section 2-AA title, while Knoch qualified for the 10th consecutive year by finishing as section runner-up.

"Mars has had a great history of success over the years," said Planets coach Dan Mountain, now in his third season. "It's a tribute to the great athletes and the hard work they put in to keep the tradition alive."

Mars posted a 12-0 record in the section and takes a 16-2 record into postseason play. The Planets are seeded sixth in the 22-team bracket and will face Quaker Valley, a 3-0 winner against Beth-Center in a preliminary round match, in the first round at 6 p.m. today at Blackhawk.

"This is the fifth consecutive year that Mars has won or shared the section title," Mountain said. "We tied for the section title the past two years. We were sick of tying for the title. This year, we wanted to win it outright."

Knoch finished second in the section with a 10-2 record, with both losses coming to Mars, and has a 12-5 overall mark. The Knights defeated Apollo-Ridge, 3-1, in the first round Tuesday night at West Shamokin. Knoch plays at 7:30 p.m. today at South Fayette.

"This is my 23rd year at Knoch and we have qualified for the playoffs 14 times," Knoch coach Diane Geist said. "We were hoping to win the section title, but Mars kept us from reaching that goal."

Mars entered two tournaments during the regular season and did well in both.

"We advanced to the semifinals of the South Fayette tournament before losing to South Fayette," Mountain said. "At the MAC tournament, we lost in the quarterfinals to Blackhawk."

Knoch was in three regular-season tournaments and made it to the title match in two.

"We took second at the Plum tournament and second at the Freeport tournament, losing to the host both times," Geist said. "We tied for third at the Slippery Rock tournament after losing in the semifinals to Wilmington."

Both Mars and Knoch came into the season with an experienced lineup.

"We lost four seniors to graduation, but had nine players coming back who were either starters or letter-winners," Mountain said. "With that in mind, I expected this team to compete for the section title.

"We're hoping to take it a little further in the playoffs. Mars has never had a team qualify for the PIAA tournament. We have to make it to the WPIAL semifinals to qualify for the state tournament."

Mountain has five seniors on this year's squad, including three who received postseason honors last year, 6-foot senior middle hitter Camblin Leonard, 5-8 senior outside hitter Camille Plesniak and 5-6 senior setter Madie Hudac.

Leonard was voted to the second team of the WPIAL Class AA All-Star Team, while Hudac was a third-team selection. All three were Section 2-AA All-Stars.

"Camblin Leonard dominated us the first time we played Mars," Geist said. "She's one of the best middle hitters in the WPIAL in Class AA."

The other two seniors are 5-5 defensive specialist Taylor Boice and 5-5 defensive specialist/backup setter Anne Beitler.

"We use a 10-player rotation and nine are returning letter-winners, so we have a great deal of experience," Mountain said.

The underclassmen in the Planets rotation are 5-10 junior middle hitter Brooke Finney, 5-10 junior right-side hitter Heather Hodges, 5-3 junior back-row specialist Tori Romano, 5-4 sophomore defensive specialist Lara Caraway and 5-7 sophomore outside hitter Maura Randolph. Romano is the lone newcomer.

"We like to the get the ball to Camblin as much as possible," Mountain said. "She hits for the highest percentage and gets a lot of kills."

Geist had to replace three players who graduated from last year's squad, but had eight experienced players returning.

The top returnees are 5-6 senior setter Jessica Gross, 5-8 junior middle hitter Tori Lark, 5-10 junior middle hitter Julia Kleinfelder, 5-8 senior outside hitter Stephanie Eagal and 5-4 senior back-row specialist Taylor Smith.

"Jessica is a three-year letter-winner and two-year starter. She's one of the best setters in the section," Geist said. "Tori and Julia are two-year starters."

The other three players with varsity experience are 5-4 sophomore setter Stephanie Gross, 5-4 sophomore outside hitter Brooke Armahizer and 5-4 sophomore libero Jessi Boldy.

"We use an 11-player rotation and eight had varsity experience coming into the season," Geist said. "We also had a transfer from Commodore Perry. Hali Gill is a 5-6 senior outside hitter who has stepped in and given us help on the front line."

The other two newcomers to the lineup are 5-7 junior right-side hitter Megan Shorr and 5-6 junior outside hitter Lea Welker.

Defending WPIAL champion West Allegheny is seeded first in the bracket, followed by No. 2 Freeport, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 South Fayette and No. 5 Blackhawk.

"We have at least six pretty darn good teams in the Class AA bracket," Mountain said. "West Allegheny has to be considered the favorite. If we can get to the final four, we have a chance to win the title."

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