The first title: Frazier was dominant in claiming the 2010 WPIAL volleyball championship
Submitted photo
Frazier鈥檚 players and coaches pose for a team photo after winning the WPIAL Class A girls volleyball championship in 2010. Pictured are (kneeling, from left) Gabby Muzina, Keana Bertocci, McKenzie Barch, Gia Bitonti, Erica Harvey, Alexis Davies, Courtney Prontos, Ashley Davies, (standing, from left) Lauren Somers, Megan Manach, assistant coach Dan Hartman, Kelsey Dillon, Savannah Prue, Amanda Pato, Laurissa Ellis, Gena Keebler, Allie Chuboy and head coach Mandy Hartman.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Frazier coach Mandy Hartman keeps her team calm during a timeout in a WPIAL quarterfinal victory over Western Beaver at Henry DiVirgilio Field House on Oct. 27. Hartman referenced her 2010 WPIAL championship team when talking to her players throughout the 2022 season which ended with the program鈥檚 second district title.
Mandy Hartman is in her 25th year as volleyball coach at Frazier High School and captured her second WPIAL championship on Nov. 5, 2022, downing Serra Catholic. The Lady Commodores have a legacy of success that traces back to Frazier鈥檚 first WPIAL volleyball championship in 2010.
The seeds of that 2010 championship run were planted in 2009 when Frazier lost to Jefferson-Morgan to end the season.
鈥淲e had high expectations coming into the season.鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淚n 2010 the girls came in really hungry because of the disappointment of 2009. It was big motivation.鈥�
鈥淲e worked hard to win the WPIAL that year,鈥� former Commodore Giovanna Bitonti said. 鈥淕oing into our summer league we knew that was our goal. We wanted to get to the WPIAL championship and we wanted to win it all.鈥�
The 2010 season turned out to be a magical run for Frazier as it captured the Section 5 championship and was undefeated heading into the WPIAL playoffs where it was the top seed and the No. 5 team in the state.
鈥淚t is still my humble brag to this day when I meet new people,鈥� Frazier standout Amanda Pato Todoro said. 鈥淚 still brag about it.鈥�
鈥淲e had a blast that year,鈥� Frazier鈥檚 Savannah Prue said. 鈥淭hose coaches are absolutely amazing and I know we still go watch Frazier volleyball and when they won the WPIAL title this year some of us were there and were crying and cheering.鈥�
鈥淭hey really were a true super team in 2010,鈥� Hartman offered. 鈥淭hey overpowered everybody, they had all the pieces of the puzzle. We had the height, we had the athleticism, we had the toughness, and they were just great kids who put in the time. Those kids worked really hard for me both in the season and in the off-season and they had a refuse-to-lose mentality and I think that鈥檚 why they had so much success.鈥�
鈥淲e had a very good team,鈥� Bitonti recalled. 鈥淲e worked hard and we worked well together.鈥�
鈥淲e had five seniors,鈥� Pate Todora explained. 鈥淲e all had played volleyball with each other since seventh grade and that included travel teams and we were just very close and we were all friends and I think just having that, just the seniors alone, made us unstoppable.鈥�
The real strength of the 2010 team was a sense of family that helped form an unbreakable bond.
鈥淎s a team we called ourselves a family,鈥� Prue said. 鈥淓ven after volleyball practice we would hangout on the weekends and we were a really close-knit group. We were always very supportive of one and other.鈥�
鈥淭hey were a close-knit group. They still are to this day,鈥� Hartman stated. 鈥淭his was one of those special teams where when I have a big match even this season and you will see them walking in the gym. We鈥檒l be practicing and here comes one of them walking in with their kids.
鈥淲e still consider ourselves a family. I鈥檓 proud of all of my girls.鈥�
The Lady Commodores steamrolled through the WPIAL playoffs, sweeping Brentwood, Shenango and Bentworth all by 3-0 set scores. That set up a WPIAL championship showdown with the undefeated No. 2 seed Bishop Canevin, who Frazier beat 3-0. The Commodores did not lose a set in the WPIAL playoffs.
The other factor that made Frazier unstoppable was coach Mandy Hartman and her able assistant, her husband Don.
鈥淚 still to this day tell everybody that she is the best coach not only at Frazier, but in the world,鈥� Pato Todora stated. 鈥淚 truly believe that, and her husband Don are both exactly want you want to have in a coach.鈥�
鈥淲e love the Hartmans,鈥� Bitonti said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e always been more than coaches, they are family.鈥�
鈥淥h my god I love her,鈥� Prue gushed about coach Hartman. 鈥淢andy and Don, they were great. They were hard coaches and that鈥檚 what made us champions. I think the world of them.鈥�
The Frazier season ended with two losses in the PIAA tournament to Clarion Area and Maplewood. The Lady Commodores finished with a record of 19-2 and final ranking of No. 9 in Class A in the state of Pennsylvania.
Coach Hartman still thinks about those PIAA playoffs to this day.
鈥淭here is no other district in Pennsylvania that puts their district championship on the pedestal that we do in the WPIAL,鈥� Hartman stated. 鈥淔or years I struggled when you qualified for the PIAA playoffs and getting kids motivated and keeping them going and sometimes when you end your season.
鈥淚t was also the only year that the format of the state championship had changed. We had to go to Slippery Rock and it was like a tournament we played. We had to play like three different schools in one day and if you knew our team we weren鈥檛 a team that could go all day long. These girls were explosive, strong, they were powerful and they wore down probably a little quicker than some other teams.鈥�
The 2010 team has left it鈥檚 mark on Frazier volleyball to this day.
鈥淵es I think ever since our championship the teams have kind of been striving for that WPIAL goal once they saw it was possible,鈥� Pato Todora explained. 鈥淯p until that point it felt like it was unreachable.鈥�
鈥淭he Hartmans are very good coaches,鈥� Bitonti said. 鈥淭hey always coached very good teams. It really means a lot that we made an impact for the whole town of Perryopolis and that we still motivate the other girls to get to that point.鈥�
鈥淚t was the beginning of a dynasty with woman鈥檚 athletics at Frazier because all of their little girls watched that team,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淭hey laid the foundation and we are still seeing the effects from that team today. It鈥檚 been an amazing thing to watch and be apart of.鈥�
Memories of the 2010 Frazier WPIAL volleyball title linger.
鈥淲e had a parade and fire trucks and we rode on the bus,鈥� Bitonti recalled. 鈥淭he whole town of Perryopolis was on the street cheering for us. We still talk about winning the WPIAL and the parade to this day. We are still very close and I still talk to my teammates.鈥�
Frazier notched another WPIAL volleyball title in November 2022, but the program鈥檚 bedrock dates back to that 2010 squad.
鈥淚 talk about them all the time,鈥� coach Hartman explained. 鈥淚 hold them as the standard that we want to reach every year and this year we won the WPIAL championship and I talked about that 2010 team and I referenced that team at least once a week. I used them as examples. They will forever be the example 鈥� the standard is the standard.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.