Another Morningstar headed to Division I

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Paige Morningstar knew she had some lofty expectations to live up to afterher two older sisters earned athletic scholarships to Division I schools.

Last week, the youngest star athlete in the Morningstar family decided to become a Division I athlete, aswell.

Morningstar, a sophomore at North Allegheny, verbally committed to play volleyball at Louisville. She becomes the third Morningstar sister who has chosen to play sports at a Division I school. Meg is a senior volleyball player at Notre Dame and Piper a freshman basketball player atRadford.

“I’m so excited,” Paige said. “I kind of had to live up to it with them. It’s really exciting to pick my own schooland do my own thing.”

Louisville has an excellent women’s volleyball program. It shared the ACC title with Pitt last season. Morningstar wasted little time committing. Louisville offered her a scholarship July 2 and she attended a camp there July 5-7. A few weeks later, she elected to continue her career at the school. Morningstar was recruited to play setter. Sister Meg is a starting middle blocker atNotre Dame.

“[Coach Dani Busboom Kelly] said she likes how I compete at the net and my fire. And she loves my size because I can block,” said Paige, who also competes for Renaissance VolleyballClub.

Great size runs in the family. Meg is 6-2, while Piper and Paige are both 6feet. Their dad, Darren, was a standout basketball player at Pitt and played in the NBA. Darren is 6-10. All three sisters have played basketball andvolleyball at North Allegheny.

“I’mjust really excited for all three of them,” Darren said. “When they were young, we really pushed them pretty hard in sports. It’s pretty funny because we kind of were pushing them to basketball. With all three of them, I think basketball really helped their coordination and footwork. For Meg and Paige, I think that all the drills we did really transferred.”

While the sisters got their athletic ability from dad, Darren said they also picked up an important athletic traitfrom their mom, Kim.

“She didn’t do anything athletically, but she’s really competitive,” Darren said. “She’s always been a reallycompetitive person.”

Porter trims list

North Allegheny’s Joey Porter Jr. recently narrowed down his list to five schools. A senior cornerback, Porter will likely choose among Pitt, Penn State, LSU, Miami and Nebraska. Porter (6 feet 2, 185 pounds) had seven interceptions in nine games last season. The recruiting website 247Sports ranks him as the No.1 senior in the state.

Steel Valley’s Hill

Steel Valley senior linebacker Todd Hill said that Delaware and Howard are currently his two favorites, but that he’s also considering Robert Morris and Duquesne. He added that he will likely make a decision in September or October. Hill (510, 205) is a four-year starter who was named to the Class 2A all-state team lastseason.

Baseball commitments

Canon-McMillan’s Cameron Walker (Saint Joseph’s); Pine-Richland’s JD Armstrong (High Point); South Park’s Kevin Vaupel (Seton Hill).

Soccer commitment

Pine-Richland’s Becca Libby (UC Davis).

Volleyball commitments

Avonworth’s Emily Ferketic (Maryland Baltimore County); Butler’s Maria Lucas (Shippensburg); Connellsville’s Maggie Means (Saint Francis,Pa.).