BUTLER TWP — When it comes to mother-daughter experiences, Meghan and Gabrielle Lucas are enjoying a doozy.

Meghan Lucas, a teacher in the Butler Area School District and former Golden Tornado girls volleyball coach, is coach of the U13 Renaissance Volleyball Club team. Gabrielle, a seventh-grader at Butler, plays for that team.

The squad recently won the Keystone Regional Volleyball Association national bid. The team will travel to New Orleans, La., for the national tournament in late June.

“I've been coaching with the Renaissance program for 15 years and this is the first time I've taken a team to nationals,” Coach Lucas said. “To have one of my girls as part of that team is pretty special for me.”

The U13 Renaissance team was seeded fourth in the KRVA Tournament and won the event without losing a single game.

Lucas has two other daughters in the Renaissance program. Maria plays on the 14-under team, Sophia on the 12-under unit.

The Renaissance teams are based in Greentree.

“We have tryouts after the high school playoffs are completed in November,” Lucas said. “We begin the season in January, which involves three practices a week and tournaments on weekends for a few months.

“It requires a lot of dedication and these kids and their parents are all in. They just don't miss.”

They're pretty good, too.

The U13 Renaissance team compiled a 44-6 record this season, winning six of the eight tournaments in which it participated. There are nine players on the team with Gabrielle being the lone player from Butler County.

Other players are from Canon-McMillan, North Allegheny and some Catholic school programs.

“Most of the tournaments we played in were in Ohio. We go there for the competition,” Lucas said. “We entered the 14-under tournament at Pitt Elite and won that.

“Gabrielle is like a pit bull. She's a go-getter. She'll do whatever is necessary to get that point.”

Gabrielle accepts that role with no problem.

“I don't know if I'm as talented as some of the other girls on the team, so I make sure I work hard,” she said. “I consider myself that (pit bull).

“If nobody's close to the ball when it's coming over the net, I'm going after it.”

This season marked the first in three years that Gabrielle is being coached by her mother.

“It's not awkward for me at all,” she said. “I know her coaching style and what she expects. I grew up watching her coach for so long.

“In some way, almost every day, my sisters, myself, my mom, we talk about the sport. We grew up on it. We love it.

“It's exciting, being able to go to New Orleans. It's a place we've never been,” Gabrielle added.

Coach Lucas described club volleyball as “a big part of my life.”

She recalled playing for the Willow Pond Volleyball Club when she played the sport in school.

“That was the only club team in western Pennsylvania at the time,” Lucas said. “Now there are multiple teams. It's really become popular.

“I enjoy coaching club volleyball. It's become a big part of my life. In club, you get tremendous parental support and you're dealing with kids who want to be challenged, who work hard, who you can push because they so badly want to get better.

“You can't do that in high school anymore.”