With the 2017 volleyball season right around the corner, the 2016 River States Conference (RSC) regular season champions are feeling confident about its season despite being a team with an extended roster of 17 players.

Mike Bruno, the RSC Coach of the Year in 2016, did a lot of recruiting in the offseason after losing seven out of his eleven players from last year’s team.

The four players that are set to return this season are juniors Morgan Dangelo and Ashley Taylor, senior setter Madison Weldon, and setter Julia Menosky, who is the lone sophomore on the roster.  

Taylor and Dangelo will lead the charge as captains of the squad. Taylor, a right side hitter, led the team in kills last season with 310 and earned a second team all-conference honor. Dangelo helmed the libero position for the majority of the season as she led the team in digs with 411.

“As a player, I grew,” Taylor said on her 2016 season. “I became an all-around player and I loved every bit of it.”

With only four returners, Bruno knew he had to start scouting and recruiting right away for the fall season.

Bruno, who is heading into his 13th season at Point Park, didn’t just recruit a starting lineup. He recruited depth for each position.

13 new players are suiting up for him this season. Eight players are transfers. Four are freshmen. One is a former Point Park basketball player with one semester of school left who decided to switch courts.

A key spot for Bruno to fill was an outside hitter. He found a junior from Sinclair Community College in New Knoxville, Ohio.

Meg Reineke collected over a thousand kills and a thousand digs in just two seasons at Sinclair. Her resume as a player makes her stand out, as she was on the NJCAA Division II All-American Second Team, All-Region XII First Team and two-time All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference First Team on top of being a two-year captain.

“There are so many good players,” Reineke said. “I have to work hard to earn my spot because I know that anybody could take it.”

Abby Miller, a freshman from St. Clairsville High School in Ohio, will add even more depth to the outside position. Miller was a two-year team captain and three-year starter in high school and she looks to be a part of the four freshmen to make an impact this season.

Ali Peterson, Erica Gumz, Carolina Urquieta and Haley English decided this offseason to trade the sunshine of California for the city life of Pittsburgh. All four were teammates last season at Mount San Antonio College.

Peterson is a junior defensive specialist who will compete with Dangelo for the role of libero. Gumz is a 5-foot-10 outside hitter and English is also an outside hitter, but will miss the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL and MCL that she suffered during the preseason.

Urquieta could compete for the starting role with Weldon and Menosky, but Menosky is the expected starting setter. Urquieta has the height and skill set to play other positions such as a middle hitter. She will likely play on one of the pins or in the middle rather than be the setter.

Dangelo helped Bruno in the recruiting process by landing two players from her home state of Indiana.

Camryn LaMonaca is a freshman outside this year from Greenwood Community High School, the same school Dangelo attended back in Indiana. Jordan Dixon is another Indiana native that transferred from St. Joseph College as specialist. She suffered a minor right foot injury during the preseason and is currently in a walking boot. It does not appear that she will be out for long.

Savannah Dishman from Catawba Valley Community College in North Carolina transferred in as a junior for this season. Dishman could get the start in the middle, but she is capable of playing other positions. She recorded 298 kills in 2016 with 120 digs and hit .383 percent.

As for local talent, Bruno did not have to look far; he found two freshmen in Jazlyn Rozier and Jada Jones. Rozier was a WPIAL All-First Team section and on the All-WPIAL Third Team while playing at Gateway. At 6-foot, she will give off a big presence in the middle and will frustrate opposing hitters with her blocking abilities.

Jones is a middle hitter and outside from Keystone Oaks. As another talented and tall player at the net, Jones has the ability and skillset to play multiple positions. Bruno may shuffle her around this season from the middle to one of the pins depending on the matchups on the other side of the net.

Devon Larkin is a name one may recognize because she is an experienced member of Point Park athletics — but on a different court. Larkin has one more semester of school to go so she decided to go from basketball to volleyball. Larkin will be the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-2 and will provide even more depth to the middle.

The latest transfer to sign was middle hitter Destiny Tucker from California (Pa.) University. The 5-foot-10 Ambridge graduate comes to Point Park as a junior.

Bruno has a lot of cards from the deck to choose from this year. While he does have a lot of players who may not see court time every game, he has a lot of talent and depth at each position.

The reigning RSC coach of the year has confidence in his team despite being a new team and never playing together before.

“I’m confident in our product, and we will take it one match at a time and we will put this 2017 campaign in the books,” Bruno said.

In the 2017 RSC coaches’ preseason poll, the Pioneers were voted to finish first in the RSC East, but back-to-back conference tournament champion IU Kokomo is favored to win the entire conference this season.

Point Park went 4-1 in non-conference games last week, including four straight wins at the Milligan (Tenn.) Tournament. The Pioneers travel to Ohio this weekend for the Rio Grande Tournament and play the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown on Sept. 5 for their home opener.