Philipsburg-Osceola volleyball wins the Centre Daily Times’ moment of the year poll
The Centre Daily Times’ best moment in Centre County high school sports in 2020 has been determined by our readers. Philipsburg-Osceola volleyball’s victory over Bald Eagle and run to the state title match earned the honor with 59% of the vote in the poll that ran for a week on CentreDaily.com.
The volleyball team won the athlete of the week poll once this season and star setter Kalista Butler won athlete of the week as an individual to go with winning athlete of the fall sports season.
The Mountaineers’ matchup that carried them to this award was their victory early in the season over Bald Eagle. The Eagles had won 82 matches in a row in the Mountain League to set a league record. Philipsburg-Osceola’s victory in three sets turned the tide and carried the team through the rest of the fall. The program went on to take down Bald Eagle two more times — including a win in the District 6 Class 2A title match — as they made a trip to the PIAA state tournament.
It was there that the Mountaineers won another two matches to advance all the way to the PIAA Class 2A state title match for the first time in school history.
The team’s win over BEA and state title run finished ahead of seven other moments. The Mountaineers’ moment finished 25 percentage points ahead of former State College swimmer Matt Brownstead’s national high school record at the PIAA Class 3A state championships in the 50 freestyle in March. Those two combined for 93% of the vote in the poll.
The Philipsburg-Osceola volleyball team will have a chance to build off their prolific 2020 season and win the moment of the season once again in 2020. The team returns most of its key players, including Butler.
“We already have big plans,” Butler previously told the CDT. “We want to be back in the state finals again. We want to win it next year, and hopefully play Trinity again.”
Check back this winter for more Centre County Athlete of the Week polls.
