Why North Catholic girls volleyball’s Sienna Cozza, a UNC commit, does everything ‘just full-on’
CRANBERRY TWP — No news is the usual news with Sienna Cozza.
For the senior North Catholic girls volleyball setter and University of North Carolina pledge, compete effort is a baseline.
“It’s the same as always with Sienna,” Trojanettes coach Amanda Fetter said. “She’s amazing all of the time. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing (Class) 4A teams or 1A teams. She always brings it. That’s part of what makes her so great is, even in practice, everything she does is just full-on, (all) out.”
“It feels good to know,” Cozza said of the compliment. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m always up and down. She always says I’m too hard on myself.”
Cozza played defense as a freshman for North and was a hitter the next season. Playing other positions prepared her to shine in her current role. Being the one to receive sets put her more in tune with where they should be, Fetter said.
“It’s definitely helped me a lot with understanding other people’s jobs and what they need in the moment,” Cozza said. “Being the setter, you’re kind of like the quarterback of the team, so you just need to know what every position needs and what your players need in each moment.”
Cozza reached 1,500 career assists in a 3-0 win against Pine-Richland on Oct. 8. It was a milestone that she’d wanted to hit for some time.
The Trojanettes finished as the runner-up in WPIAL Section 2-4A, earning a postseason spot and No. 2 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A tournament after moving up a classification from last season and surviving an impressive conference gauntlet. They will face the winner of Kiski and Peters Township in a Thursday quarterfinal.
“It’s a whole different game,” Cozza said. “The level of play, every game is a fight and a battle. It’s just working through those tough games every week. We’re going to hit our peak soon, I have a feeling.”
Cozza committed in the spring to play in college for the Tar Heels. UNC’s coach, Mike Schall, is the brother of former North Allegheny boys and girls volleyball coach Dan Schall.
“It was definitely a huge (stressor) for me,” Cozza said of her college recruitment process. “It was laying on me ever since I was little. I wanted to go D-I. That was a big goal.”
“She really wanted to go big-time and she pushed herself,” Fetter said. “She’s probably the most driven kid I’ve ever coached.”
Before leaving for Chapel Hill, Cozza has big plans for her finale with North.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “I want to go out on a good note. ... That would be great if I could lead my team to states (after) the WPIAL playoffs.”
