Frost takes over Jaguars volleyball
For the last two decades, it has been no secret that Thomas Jefferson has become a volleyball powerhouse.
The Jaguars have 26 section titles, including four straight and 12 in the last 13 years.
TJ has also made it to the WPIAL semifinals in five of the last seven seasons with plenty of trips to the PIAA postseason in that time frame.
But now it’s a new day for the program, as former assistant coach Courtney Frost takes over the head coaching duties for TJ this fall.
“I’ve coached volleyball for several years and love the sport,” said Frost, who is a 2005 Baldwin graduate and played at Slippery Rock. “I have been involved in club volleyball since 2010 and I was an assistant here for the last three years. I know the tradition here and the high expectations.”
The first task for Frost will be trying to figure out how to replace 10 seniors that had plenty of winning, varsity experience on the court.
In 2023, the Jaguars compiled an overall 18-3 record and went undefeated in Section 3-3A action with a 14-0 mark.
After playoff wins over Kiski Area and South Fayette, TJ fell to Hampton in the WPIAL semifinals.
In the PIAA playoffs, TJ beat DuBois in the first round, but then lost to WPIAL rival North Catholic in the round of eight.
“It was a very senior-heavy team last year,” Frost stated. “A lot of experience and a lot of chemistry on the court. It will be hard to replace that, but this group will not shy away from that type of pressure. The expectations are still high here. We have a talented group of sophomores and juniors, and right now we have six seniors that will lead us.”
Frost mentions that the opening weeks of the season will be crucial for the Jaguars to find that consistency and that winning edge.
“The only way you get experience is by playing in games,” Frost said. “There will be no decline in this group and they will live up to the tradition here at TJ. The preseason has been so important for us, just getting the girls into open gyms and playing club over the summer. Practice will dictate a lot of things for us. We want to practice hard and practice with grit. We then need that to translate into games.”
A couple of players that the coaching staff will be leaning on this fall will be senior Myla Evans, junior Chase Turk, junior Hannah Stewart, sophomore libero Sophia Janosko and sophomore setter Viola Macneil.
That depth will be tested in section play, as the rest of Section 3-3A fills out as Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold and Uniontown.
“The focus will always be on us,” Frost explained. “You have to control what you can control and only worry about ourselves. If we play our brand of volleyball and limit our mistakes, we will be successful. These girls have to be open to some change and be able to work as a unit.”
TJ starts the season off with a non-section affair at home versus Peters Township Tuesday. They then will travel to Hampton, which gave them two of their three losses last season.
