Kala Schnur knows what it's like to help a losing program become a winning one. So does Mike Bruno.

Now both will have to do it again.

Schnur, a 2005 Butler graduate who was the girls volleyball team captain the past two years as its setter, will continue her academic and volleyball careers at Point Park University.

Her coach there will be Bruno - the coach she originally was going to play for at Waynesburg College.

"He was the coach at Waynesburg last year and recruited me," Schnur said. "After I decided to go there, he left and took the Point Park job.

"Coach Bruno contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in playing for him there. I like the way he runs a team and develops winners, and Point Park had my major (criminal justice), so I decided to go."

Butler was 5-12 during Schnur's junior season, but the Tornado turned around to finish 8-6 last fall.

Schnur is one of five seniors on that team to move on to collegiate volleyball, joining Ashleigh Huey (Pitt-Johnstown), Kelsey Rice (Gannon), Jasmin Mehelich and Brandie Welch (Butler County Community College) in the college ranks.

"Kala will have no problem making the adjustment to college volleyball," Butler coach Meghan Lucas said. "The setter is the quarterback on the team. She runs the offense and keeps the team together.

"She'll do the same thing with a young team in college and she'll do it well.

"One of the things I wanted to establish with this program was getting girls to play in college. My experiences playing at Clarion were fabulous and I want to provide our girls with similar experiences down the road," Lucas added.

Point Park is an NAIA program that finished 5-30 last season. The Pioneers have dropped 108 of 120 matches over the past four years.

This year's roster is comprised of all freshmen, except for one sophomore and a junior.

That doesn't bother Bruno. Waynesburg was 6-23 the year before he took over that program. In five years, he was 118-60 with the Yellow Jackets, including back-to-back Presidents' Athletic Conference championship seasons.

"We're bringing in a bunch of freshmen and Kala's going to run the show," Bruno said. "The first step toward building a winning team is establishing a quality setter. That's why I wanted her to come here so badly.

"Kala's the first piece of the puzzle. The rest will follow."

That suits Schnur just fine.

"We're a bunch of young guns," she said. "To be a freshman and be the starting setter - I'm thrilled with it."

Since he also worked as a WPIAL official, Bruno saw Schnur play a few times in high school. Joe Hardiman, who assigns high school officials in the Western Pennsylvania region, also recommended Schnur to him.

Bruno played some coed tournaments on the same team as Lucas nearly a decade ago.

"Everyone I talked to spoke highly of Kala, and I liked what I saw of her," Bruno said. "She's a 5-foot-4 girl who plays with the heart of a 6-3 girl.

"We've only had a few practices and Kala's already showing good location with her sets and making plays with her teammates. Our goal is a winning season this year and I think we'll get there."

Point Park is applying for NCAA Division II status and expects to attain it within the next two years.

"Nobody pays much attention to any of the female sports at Point Park," Schnur said. "My goal is to make volleyball the first popular female sport on campus.

"It helps that all of us are new players. We're in on the ground floor together and we can build the program together."

Lucas said Schnur will enjoy the game well beyond her college years.

"This is a lifelong sport," she said. "I still play competitively and I'm sure a lot of these current players will be playing for a long time."