Baldwin graduates look ahead to promising college volleyball seasons

Three key senior members of the 2019 Baldwin girls volleyball team — outside hitter Allison Murray, middle hitter Ally Schenk and right-side hitter Riley Lenard-Haley — have continued their careers at the next level.

After finishing as a back-to-back section champion and WPIAL runner-up in 2016 and 2018, Baldwin was led by an athletic group of senior athletes in 2019.

“These seniors led their team as sophomores to a section title, which no one expected,” coach Chris Kelly said, “then made it back to the WPIAL championship in 2018 as juniors with no ties remaining to the original championship teams of 2014 and 2015. That says a lot about them.

“They were able to continue the great volleyball tradition we have at Baldwin. They didn’t win a (WPIAL) title, but they continued to make Baldwin relevant in that discussion. That’s not always easy to do; there is always a target on your back. To stand up and play well in those conditions isn’t easy and a lot of pressure comes with it.”

Murray, Schenk and Lenard-Haley currently are sophomores at St. Francis (Pa.), Fairmont State and Westminster, respectively.

“Allison, Ally and Riley were such a big part of our success over a three-year span,” Kelly said. “It was clear to me that they needed to play together even as sophomores. As juniors, they helped lead us to a fourth trip to a WPIAL final. That season, Riley’s performance in the WPIAL semifinal match still stands out to me. She played so well and was integral in helping us come back from an 0-2 deficit to beat Pine-Richland.

“Allison could turn a match around at any time with a huge kill. And Ally was always so consistent and reliable. She never allowed herself to get too high or too low, but always remained steady.”

Each of the three has moved in a different direction in her collegiate career.

Murray, a nursing major, is a 5-foot-11 outside hitter for the Red Flash, who open the 2021 season Aug. 27-28 in the Youngstown State Invitational.

“I chose St. Francis because of their strong P.A. program, their beautiful campus, and amazing coaches and players,” Murray said. “Everything about my visit made me feel as though St. Francis was the best choice academically and athletically.

“Unfortunately, I was not able to compete in my first season due to covid (protocol). Our school did not play whereas the rest of our conference still competed. We spent our fall and spring semesters with lots of practices and lifts.”

To say the Baldwin product missed the competition in her first year of college would be an understatement.

“Missing out on a full year has definitely lit a fire under all of us to work as hard as we can,” Murray said. “We are beyond excited to get this season started. We have very high expectations and feel very prepared to have a successful season.”

At Baldwin, Murray was a top talent in the WPIAL, earning all-section honors four times. She was chosen all-state and All-WPIAL as a junior and senior, amassing 476 kills and 293 digs over those two seasons.

Murray also competed for Revolution Volleyball, played softball in high school and was a member of the National Honor Society.

At Fairmont State, Schenk was listed as a freshman middle hitter last year but has switched to middle blocker this season.

She is a double major in National Security and Intelligence and political science, and has been lauded as a Mountain East Conference all-academic honoree.

“My first volleyball season in college was unlike any I’ve ever experienced,” said the 6-foot Schenk. “Due to covid, we had to compete in the spring instead of the fall while taking many precautions to stop the spread on campus.

“We had a 10-game season along with the conference playoffs. Our team was extremely competitive and ended up going 8-2 and was the runner-up in the conference finals. It was an amazing and exciting experience.”

Schenk is excited about the Falcons’ prospects this year despite a recent coaching change in the program.

“We have almost the same team returning,” she said. “After a week of practices, this team is just as competitive, and maybe even more, as last season. I’m beyond excited to see where the season goes with this team.”

Lenard-Haley, meanwhile, started out her college career as an outside/right-sider hitter for the Titans, and as a neuroscience major.

She chose Westminster for the small campus, family-like atmosphere and the volleyball program’s history. After competing for the Titans as a freshman, she plans to sit out a year before returning to the program in the future.

“My first season did not go as expected,” Lenard-Haley said. “We did not have a season in the fall because of covid, but we continued to practice almost every day in order to be ready to compete in the spring.

“There were definitely a lot of setbacks throughout the entirety of the year. For example, girls getting covid on our team and having to be in quarantine, and also not being able to compete against other teams because their team was quarantined.”

This spring, Westminster posted an 8-0 conference record and finished 10-1 overall.

“The season was a lot more stressful than most,” Lenard-Haley said, “but we were able to come out with a PAC championship. It wasn’t easy. We all worked our best to come out on top, which thankfully we did.”

Lenard-Haley, who stands 5-9, switched her major from neuroscience to psychology and added a minor in criminal justice.

“I expect my team will be just as good if not better than last year,” she said. “I can’t wait to see how well they do this season.”

Brentwood graduate Brooke McQuillan and Lenard-Haley were teammates at Westminster last season.

A 5-5 junior defensive specialist, McQuillan is a criminal justice major with aspirations to be an FBI profiler.

She participated in volleyball, basketball, track and softball at Brentwood, was a scholar-athlete and twice earned all-section plaudits.

During McQuillan’s senior basketball season, the Spartans won a section title for the first time in 25 years and played in the WPIAL finals.