Caleb Schall: North Allegheny
It may have been only one week into the 2022 boys volleyball season, but March 31 was the most important day of the season for North Allegheny.
On that fateful Thursday night, Cole Dorn, the Tigers’ top outside hitter and PVCA all-star in 2021, sustained a serious ankle sprain that could have ended his season.
It could have been the turning point in a season in which the Tigers, the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champions, failed to live up to their lofty expectations.
Instead, the Tigers overcame the adversity of having Dorn out of the lineup for eight matches and three tournaments, and lost only one match. The Tigers’ leader during Dorn’s almost five-week absence was senior Caleb Schall, a 6-0 setter/ opposite who joined Dorn on the PVCA all-state team last year.
“Caleb doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves,” Dorn said. “He’s probably the best volleyball player I’ve had the pleasure of knowing in my life. Without him, none of this would have been possible. He is the glue to our offense.”
Dorn returned to the lineup May 14 with Schall running the Tigers’ potent offense and the two led North Allegheny to its fifth consecutive WPIAL title and its fourth PIAA title in a row.
“He was a tremendous leader on the court, especially when Cole was out of the lineup,” said Tigers coach Dan Schall, his father. “We needed everybody to step up and be a little better than they normally are. Caleb has the ability to make players around him better, and that was clearly evident in the opening month of the season.”
For that reason, Caleb Schall is the Post-Gazette’s Boys Volleyball Player of the Year.
“It’s awesome,” said Schall, when informed of the honor. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get here. I have to share this honor with my teammates. We couldn’t have won these titles without the contribution of every player on this team.”
Schalleven made a position change. Last year, he was the Tigers’ only setter in a 5-1 offense. This year, the Tigers switched to a 6-2 offense with Schall sharing the setting duties with senior Jake Koch.
“We have two of the best setters in the WPIAL, so using a 6-2 offense gave us a lot of options,” Dorn said. “Caleb has one of the best arms on our team. Giving him the opportunity to swing made us even better.”
Having two setters also gave coach Schall the option of switching back to a 5-1 offense when needed during the playoffs.
“There were times during the playoffs in which we needed another backcourt player to stabilize our serve/ receive,” coach Schall said. “In those cases, we switched back to a 5-1 with Caleb running the offense. We became very good at switching on the fly. That made it more difficult for our opponents.”
Caleb Schall has been attending North Allegheny practices since he was a youngster.
“Caleb has been chasing volleyballs since when he began to walk at age 2,” Schall said.
“My passion for volleyball began at age 2 or 3,” Schall said. “It was awesome to watch him coach as I grew up. It was super special to play for him and win WPIAL and PIAA titles.”
Schall actually has six gold medals hanging in his bedroom.
“I was a member of our varsity team as a freshman, but didn’t get to play in the playoffs,” Schall said. “I did receive WPIAL and PIAA gold medals that year. The medals I won last year and this year mean so much more to me, since I played on both teams.”
Schall could have had two more gold medals if it weren’t for the 2020 season, which was canceled due to COVID19.
“Caleb was supposed to be our setter in 2020,” coach Schall said. “I feel bad for that group. There were supposed to be some very competitive teams that year and I think we would have been in the mix.”
“It’s a shame we didn’t get to play in 2020,” Caleb Schall said. “But I completely understand why they canceled the season.”
Schall will be following in the footsteps of his dad, and his uncles Jim and Mike, by attending Penn State University.
“I could have picked a smaller school, but I want to major in engineering and Penn State has a great engineering program,” Schall said. “I will definitely be playing club ball, and may try to walk on with the varsity team.”
Schall will be making one more trip before moving on to Penn State. He will be playing with the Yorktown Volleyball Club at the AAU Boys National Championships in Orlando, Fla.
“It will be nice to have Caleb on my team, instead of playing against him in the state finals the last two years,” said Central Dauphin coach Josh Brenneman, who is also coach of the Yorktown Volleyball Club. “He is a wellrounded player who took advantage of all those extra reps a coach’s son gets over the years. He did a great job of distributing the ball during the state championship match.”
Also considered for the Post-Gazette player of the year award were Montour senior Andrew Feeley and Allderdice senior Sam Kelly. Feeley, a 6-3 outside hitter, was chosen as the WPIAL Class 2A player of the year after leading the Spartans to their first WPIAL title since 2007. Kelly, a 6-4 outside hitter, was chosen as the City League player of the year after leading the Dragons to a City League title.