BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College volleyball coach Rob Snyder is used to having successful seasons.

What he’s not accustomed to is having many players back to talk about them.

The Pioneers are coming off an 18-3 season that resulted in a sixth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament. Six of those starters — libero Madison Raypush (Slippery Rock), setter Morgan Jack (Knoch), outside hitters Breanna Reisinger (Ellwood City) and Abby Granato (Mohawk), middle hitters Aslyn Pry (Moniteau) and Claire Kile (Harvest Baptist) — are sophomores this season.

“We’ve been to nationals a few times, but we’ve never gotten there in back-to-back seasons,” Snyder said. “Maybe this will be the year. We’ve never brought back this much experience from such a good team.

“You never know, though. It’s not easy to get there.”

Entering his 24th season, Snyder sports a career record of 413 wins and 156 losses. Jack and Reisinger were All-Americans last year and Pry made the all-tournament team at nationals.

“We definitely have leaders,” Snyder said. “Three of our last four setters have been All-Americans, including Brittany Bianco (Freeport) and Mackenzie Craig (Karns City). That’s such a key position and we’ve been fortunate there.”

Becca McCandless, a defender from Slippery Rock, is a sophomore who did not play for the Pioneers last year. Freshmen this season are defender Abby Young from Redbank Valley, outside hitters Amber Maurer from Karns City and Krystle Ekas from Knoch, and opposite hitter Zoe Morley from Portersville Christian.

Snyder said Maurer, Ekas and Morley “will be part of the rotation.“

He added that Raypush “will be solid at libero” while Kile and Granato are “strong hitters.”

“We lost a good defender and we got a good defender. We lost a right-side player and we got a right-side player,” Snyder said. “Our team has come together well this year.

“These girls know what it takes to get there (nationals). I guess there’s some pressure on them that way, but this is a confident bunch.”

Butler graduate Autumn Rodgers, who played volleyball for Snyder at BC3 in 2016-17, is back for her fifth season as assistant coach.

“I love volleyball and I love the atmosphere at BC3 matches,” Rodgers said. “This is a great program and the kids are easy to work with.

“Rob is very particular as a coach. He does things his way. He has a system that seems to work and he stays with it.”

She added that a lot of players join the program because of its reputation or through word of mouth.

Snyder is looking forward to this season for a personal reason as well — his own mobility. He underwent knee surgery prior to the beginning of last season.

“I was on crutches when we started last year,” Snyder said. “They propped me up and I was able to hit some balls during practice. Eventuially, I hobbled around on a brace. By the time nationals rolled around, I was walking normally again.

“This year, from the start, I can get around to our two practice courts. Everything is much easier. Our goals never change. Win the league, win the region, win at nationals. That’s always the target.”

The Pioneers open the season Wednesday at Westmoreland. Their first home match is at 6 p.m. Sept. 2 against Penn State Shenango.