CHERRY TWP — Whether she is on the basketball court, the track or the volleyball court, Ashley Brehm carries something a little extra with her.

The memory of her grandfather, Donald Boben, who died in March of 2011.

“He's always with me,” Brehm said. “I have a locket with a picture in it of me, my pap and my grandma at the last basketball game he ever watched me play. Whenever I have that necklace, I know he's right there.”

The Moniteau senior doesn't always need the help.

Brehm is as tenacious as they come at whatever the sport of the moment is.

In the fall, she is diving on the hard floor, making digs and passes as a member of the Warriors' volleyball team.

In the winter, she is the point guard and a defensive stalwart on the Moniteau girls basketball team.

And in the spring, she throws the javelin and runs on a relay for the school's track and field team.

Before each sporting event, her ritual is the same.

“After the 'Star-Spangled Banner,' I pray for my pap,” she said. “It's amen, blow a kiss to the air, I love you, pap, and then it's game on. I'm ready.”

Brehm is always ready, no matter what happens.

On the volleyball court, Brehm already has run the gambit.

She and her teammates have never made the playoffs and are adjusting to another coaching change.

Make that two.

First-year coach Heidi Wirtner is taking a break from coaching the volleyball team at Moniteau this fall to heal from a major knee injury suffered during an open gym.

Moniteau graduate and assistant coach Amber Dillaman is filling in.

The seniors like Brehm are not discouraged.

“Some of the girls get frustrated because we have new coaches and it's a complete change,” Brehm said. “At the end of every day, though, we're a team. We're going to show up as a team and leave as a team. That's never going to change.”

Brehm will also have to adjust to a new basketball coach this winter.

After 11 years on the bench, Mark Yeager resigned as girls basketball coach at Moniteau.

“This senior year, I've been thrown so many challenges,” Brehm said. “Not just me, everyone. But I'm doing the best I can to keep moving on. I have God with me, my family, my friends. That's all I can ask.”

She also has talent with her.

Brehm is doing what she can to erase several years of losing on the volleyball court at Moniteau as a defensive specialist.

“It's the best feeling — making the perfect pass after the hardest hit,” she said.

Last winter, Brehm helped the Warriors basketball team to the District 9 Class A championship game, where it lost to Cranberry, before a near upset of Keystone Oaks in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.

Brehm averaged only four points per game, but her value was in making crisp passes and playing staunch defense.

There's another hard-nosed Brehm on the way.

Brehm is grooming her younger sister, sophomore Alycia, to follow in her footsteps.

“(Alycia) is a very good setter (on the volleyball team),” Brehm said. “She plays back row, too. She's my best friend. Part of me wants her to become a libero, but the other part says, 'No. No. No one can be better than me.' She might as well not even try — that's the friendly competition we have.”