Karika

CRANBERRY TWP — Replacing an all-state setter has been no problem for Alex Karika.

The soon-to-be Seneca Valley sophomore is building quite a volleyball resume for herself, in fact.

Karika started as a freshman setter for the Raiders last fall, filling the position left by all-state senior Lauren Balmert, a two-year team captain who went on to start as a freshman at Fairfield (Conn.) University last year.

Karika helped the Raiders win their section title and she has bigger goals this time around.

"I want us to repeat as section champion and go deeper into the playoffs," she said. "We went pretty far last year and our (playoff) loss to Pine-Richland was pretty devastating."

Karika can back up her bold aspirations. She was part of a national tournament volleyball team this summer — twice.

Karika played for the Under-18 Pittsburgh 3 Rivers club team that qualified for the AAU National Tournament in Miami by finishing second in the Keystone Region.

That team finished first in its flight at the national competition in late June and early July.

"We started playing in November and went right on through," Karika said."

Karika tried out for the Keystone Region Volleyball Association's High Performance team. The first step toward making that team was getting invited to a tryout camp at Lock Haven University.

Karika was one of 50 girls invited to that tryout camp and was one of 10 selected for the KRVA's under-15 select team, led by Indiana (Pa.) University volleyball coach Zack Shaver.

"I loved her athleticism from the setting position," Shaver said. "She's very quick on her feet. Her maturity played a big factor in her selection, also.

"Alex played for that under-18 (3 Rivers) team, which helped her develop her skills. She has leadership qualities well beyond her years."

The KRVA select team competed in a 24-team national tournament July 21 to 26 in Miami and won seven consecutive matches before bowing to Southern California 25-27, 21-25, 20-25 in the finals.

"We were actually leading the second game by seven points, but I used up my timeouts earlier," Shaver said. "They got on a run and we couldn't hold them off.

"We didn't play our best volleyball in that championship match, but still kept every game close."

To reach the finals, KRVA defeated all-star teams from Hawaii, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Ohio Valley, Oklahoma and Florida, along with a USA High Performance team.

Karika was the only Western Pennsylvania player on the KRVA squad, which had only two practices — one in Allentown, the other at Penn State — before heading to Florida.

"Alex played a big part in our success down there," Shaver said. "The setter is like the quarterback. She made good decisions in what hitters up front to get the ball to.

"Our two practices totaled six hours and we were in a national-level tournament against some of the best high school players in the country. Alex meshed with everyone else extremely well," he added.