Family affair for Panther Valley volleyball

POTTSVILLE – At Panther Valley, the volleyball team is a family.

On and off the court, the Panthers are connected.

And the ties run deep.

Two sets of sisters – Olivia and Christina Dacey and Erika and Jenna Dubosky – were on the court Tuesday night when Panther Valley defeated Pine Grove 25-21, 20-25, 25-9, 25-19 for the District 11 Class 2A title.

It was nothing new for Panthers head coach Nancy Filer.

“This is not my first set of sisters,” said Filer, who also coaches her daughter, Rachelle. “I think I’ve had a set of sisters I think every year on the team. When you come from a small school district, it kind of seems like you have sisters.”

But this is the first season these sisters have had the chance to play together.

Sophomore Olivia Dacey missed last year’s title run with an injury.

“It feels awesome,” she said. “I wasn’t able to play last year because I tore my ACL. But now I’m back on the court with my sister and it feels amazing, playing with everyone around me, too.”

It was an opportunity neither took for granted.

“She worked really hard after her injury, so I knew that this upcoming season she would be on the court with me,” said Christina Dacey. “I was excited when she earned her varsity spot. And we’re all sisters on the court, so it’s not like I’m just playing with her.”

As she settled into her role in the lineup, Olivia had a perfect role model in Christina to help her get acclimated.

“I can definitely lean on her. She’s our captain,” Olivia said of Christina. “So I look up to her, and she tells me what to do and I follow her.”

It’s an example she’s followed for most of her playing career.

“We played basically our whole lives together,” said Olivia. “We played Fusion together, travel team together, and now we’re on PV together.”

Jenna and Erika Dubosky have followed a similar path.

“My sister means a lot to me,” said Jenna. “I love playing with her, and Olivia and Christina all the time. We’ve been playing with them since I’ve been little with Fusion. It’s great.

“Once we reached a certain age, I knew that we would be together.”

A freshman, Jenna has blended seamlessly into the Panthers’ close-knit group.

“I honestly think it’s pretty easy,” Jenna said of the transition to the varsity team. “They all talk well to each other, so it’s great.”

Well, maybe not always.

“Well it’s challenging,” Erika said with a smile. “We compete a lot, and we both want to be the best. So it’s a challenge, but we’re pretty good together.

“She’s always there for me on the court. We always help each other out.”

So, how competitive is it?

“We’re very competitive,” said Erika, a sophomore. “We always wanted to be the best. We always want to beat each other out.”

That competitive nature certainly isn’t exclusive to sisters, though their relationships might turn the intensity up a few notches.

“With my sister, it’s always back-and-forth,” added Christina. “We always go home and we say, oh I did this. And then she would come with me and say, oh I did this, too. So it’s always back-and-forth.

“But in the end, we’re happy for each other.”

While the situation can present a unique, and potentially challenging dynamic, Filer and her staff have created a culture that embraces all players regardless of their relation to one another.

It’s an approach that has helped players flourish, and one that has given the program its second straight district title.

“When they come to the team, it kind of changes the mechanics a little bit,” said Filer. “But what I try to make them do is learn that they’re all sisters. Even though they don’t all go home together, on the court, they have six sisters out there.”