A dominating season is one thing.

But perfection is a whole different ballgame.

The St. Alphonsus Red seventh- and eight-grade girls volleyball team recently captured the Diocesan Championship Tournament for the first time in four years.

And the team did it in style with a perfect 28-0 record.

"Most of our games this season were not that close," said coach Sue Nicholas. "We were clearly the best team in Section 3."

The league is divided into five sections. At the end of the season, the top three teams from each section compete for the diocesan title.

St. Alphonsus, located in Wexford, defeated St. Elizabeth in the title match on Oct. 29 at Seton-LaSalle High School.

Members of this year's volleyball team came from five different school districts: Seneca Valley, Mars, Ambridge, Pine-Richland and North Allegheny.

At the team's first practice in early August, Nicholas said she knew she had a good team on her hands.

"I knew we had a lot of talent and experience," she said. "It was just a matter of whether or not the girls could play together as a team and keep that up over the course of the season.

"We dominated this year in serving, passing and ball control," added Nicholas. "And the girls were so coachable. It was a total team effort."

The squad competed in the North Catholic Fall Classic Tournament on Oct. 8.

Ten teams participated and St. Alphonsus dominated their six opponents at the event, winning 12 consecutive games to capture the championship.

Possibly the biggest reason the team dominated its competition this season was because of the way the players approached their practices.

"We had 13 girls on the team this year," said Nicholas. "Even the girls that didn't start, they were the ones playing against the starters in practice.

"We got better as the season went along because the girls were competing against each other. All the practices were intense. That's a credit to the girls."

Nicholas has been involved with the volleyball program at St. Alphonsus all of the programs nine years.

"Back when we started, we were the young team in the league," she said. "But since then we've grown and gotten considerably stronger.

"Four years ago, we won the diocesan varsity championship. And we've also won four junior varsity titles."