North Catholic senior outside hitter Domique Felix was trying to be perfect in a sport where such a pursuit is futile.

Mistakes happen in a fast-paced game like volleyball.

No one is perfect. Not even close.

Felix, though, fixated on it.

“Dom is very, very self-critical,” said North Catholic coach Amanda Fetter. “She wants to win and she wants to win all the time. We talked about letting things go. It's OK to fail every once in a while. That's why you have 25 points. You can make 23 disgusting errors and still win.”

Felix took heed of that advice. She relaxed and let her natural talent, tall, lanky frame and powerful right arm take over.

What resulted was a season in which Felix recorded a staggering 604 kills and helped the Trojanettes to their first state title.

For her efforts, Felix was named Butler Eagle Girls Volleyball Player of the Year.

Seneca Valley's Sarah White, Knoch's trio of Skye Burkett, Kennedy Christy and Hannah Rowe were also considered for the honor.

But 604 kills is 604 kills. That's an average of 24.6 per match and Felix had 25 in the state championship win over North Penn-Liberty.

“It really does speak for itself,” Fetter said. “Someone else asked me to make a case for Dom for another award and I said, 'She has 604 kills. I don't have to say anything else.

“She came out this year and blew me away,” Fetter said. “She knocked my sox off.”

She even surprised herself.

Felix was good last season as North Catholic won the WPIAL title, but she felt she had much more to give.

This season, she rounded into her dominating form at mid-season after that long talk with Fetter.

“It was kind of hard to wrap my head around it,” Felix said. “I didn't know I had that many kills.”

Confidence was the key and Felix began getting a heaping, helping of it last year in her first season at North Catholic.

Felix played her first two high school seasons at Oakland Catholic, but it just wasn't working out for her or her older sister, Alana.

While looking for another school, they visited North Catholic.

Dominque Felix knew it was the right place for her and Alana.

But she had to break some old habits when she got there.

“I used to look at the bench whenever I made a mistake, expecting to be reprimanded,” Felix said. “Eventually, (Coach Fetter) said to me, 'What are you looking at?'”

Felix began playing volleyball in the fourth grade, but it wasn't always her No. 1 sport.

Felix also ran cross country and played basketball.

Basketball, however, wasn't at the top of her list of favorite things to do, even though her father, Patrick, played for Duquesne.

Eventually, her love for volleyball grew so much, it eclipsed everything else.

“To see how far I came from there to the present, I'm really blessed,” she said.

Felix was also floored by her recognition as Butler Eagle Girls Volleyball Player of the Year.

“It means the world,” Felix said. “I've put in countless hours.”

The highlight, though, of her career — and her senior year in general — was winning the state title.

Especially because of the road the Trojanettes took to get there after losing to Freeport in the WPIAL Class 2A final.

“It makes the state championship so much sweeter,” Felix said. “After losing to Freeport in the WPIAL, all we wanted to do was to get back to play them again and beat them at least once in my high school career. It fueled us.”

Now there will be a banner in the North Catholic gym commemorating their win.

“It didn't really hit me until the banquet,” Felix said. “We can come back with our families and see that banner one day. We were the first ones to do it.”

Here is the 2019 Butler Eagle Girls Volleyball Honor Roll, selected by the Butler Eagle sports staff with recommendations from area coaches:Player of the YearDominique Felix (North Catholic), senior outside hitter, 604 kills, 24.6 kills per matchOutside HittersSkylar Burkett (Knoch), seniorAva Carney (Butler), freshman, 309 kills, 291 digsEmily Hayward (Mars), senior, 136 kills, 89 digsEmily Huff (Karns City), senior, 88 kills, 172 digs, 44 acesMeah Ielase (A-C Valley), sophomore, 163 service points, 280 digs, 171 killsMackensey Jack (Freeport), senior, 86 killsLauren Lampus (Freeport), senior, team MVP, 158 killsDominika Logue (Union), sophomore, 107 kills, 24 aces, 18 blocks, 63 digsBeth Long (Mars), junior, 177 kills, 214 digsLibby Palmer (North Catholic), seniorLexis Prementine (Slippery Rock), senior, 88 kills, 116 service points, 321 digsHannah Rowe (Knoch), seniorAnna Schoeppner (North Catholic), seniorTaylor Welter (Butler), sophomore, 254 kills, 68 digsSarah White (Seneca Valley), junior, 274 kills, 366 assists, 30 blocks, 57 acesMiddle HittersKennedy Christy (Knoch), seniorAnna DeGraaf (Seneca Valley), senior, 43 blocks, 111 kills, 25 acesTiffany Madison (Slippery Rock), junior, 122 kills, 37 blocksAslyn Pry (Moniteau), junior, 143 kills, 25 acesIsabella Russo (Freeport), senior, 154 killsAva Whitesel (North Catholic), seniorSettersMandy Altsman (Seneca Valley), sophomore, 367 assists, 36 acesLogan Barnhart (Moniteau), junior, 236 assistsSydney Bucknum (Mars), junior, 458 assists (school record), 123 digsMaddie Clark (Freeport), senior, 455 assistsSophia Lucas (Butler), junior, 42 aces, 112 kills, 155 assists, 319 digsVirginia Recchia (Slippery Rock), junior, 357 assists, 208 digsEmily Wetzel (A-C Valley), senior, 213 service points, 54 aces, 277 digs, 290 assistsLiberos/ Defensive SpecialistsAbby Adams (Seneca Valley), senior, 244 digs, 27 acesTaylor Balint (Slippery Rock), senior, 360 digs, 107 service pointsMackenzie Dunn (Karns City), senior, 151 digs, 80 kills, 41 acesElizabeth Feczko (North Catholic), juniorKenzie Kerkan (Knoch), seniorErica Lampus (Freeport), sophomore, 178 digsGabrielle Lucas (Butler), senior, 398 digs