Lombardo

JACKSON TWP — It might appear as though Rob Lombardo is arriving on the Seneca Valley sports scene.

But he's already there.

After serving as a varsity assistant coach for SV's boys basketball team the last five years under Victor Giannotta, Lombardo was approved as the girls head coach Monday night.

The girls position was vacated when Kelly Mathews resigned in April to become head coach at Moon.

The Raiders girls went 4-18 last season.

"Last year's team struggled, but it did so with a lot of young players," said Lombardo, who was chosen over eight other candidates. "They started a lot of freshmen and sophomores. It's nice to come in and coach a team with a lot of returning letterwinners."

Seneca Valley believes it has the coach to get the girls squad back on its feet.

"Rob possesses a lot of the qualities you look for in a head coach," said Seneca Valley athletic director Greg Caprara. "He's very accessible and he's very familiar with the system. He's been part of the boys staff, and staffs tend to mix at a school."

Following Mathews' resignation, Lombardo took a few days to think about a possible switch to girls basketball.

In the end, his decision to apply was an easy one.

"This opening came at a time when I felt a need to put my own stamp on a program," said Lombardo, who lives with his family in Cranberry Township. "It was time to practice what I've learned over the years.

"Coaches don't always get the opportunity to coach in the (school) district they live in," he added. "I know some of the parents from coaching the boys team and it just became a comfortable fit."

Lombardo came to Seneca Valley as a member of Giannotta's staff in 2004. Since then, the boys team has experienced unprecedented success, making the WPIAL playoffs three straight years and reaching the PIAA tournament for the first time last season.

Lombardo, who also served as head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach for Ellwood City's boys team earlier this decade, said he learned a lot under Giannotta.

"There are certain people who can handle the size of a school like Seneca Valley," Lombardo said. "Coach G was determined to make sure that SV wouldn't be a one-year wonder. He wanted to build a consistent program and that's what I intend to do with the girls' team."

Though this will be Lombardo's first head coaching job with a high school girls squad, he has coached girls before.

"I was coach of an AAU girls team back in the summer of 1999," he said. "The boys game and the girls game are a bit different, but I think that girls actually learn to execute faster and, in a lot of cases, play more as a team."