Latrobe grad Paige Watson to play prominent role as Chatham women's volleyball tries to back up top ranking in PAC

Chatham students who encounter Paige Watson on campus could be in for a treat. Watson, a sophomore volleyball player, is fond of card tricks and is always eager to show them off.

So much so that she is seldom without a deck in her possession. As coach Joe Bortak puts it, Watson “literally and figuratively” has a couple card tricks up her sleeve at any time.

Watson confesses to knowing only three tricks — taught to her by a friend from home — but she has worked hard to perfect each one.

“It’s a cool party trick,” she said.

As she and her teammates embark on the 2024 volleyball season, they’re out to prove their performance in 2023 was no illusion. The Cougars went 18-6 overall and 9-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference last fall. The 9-1 mark tied Chatham with Bethany for the regular-season title and earned the Cougars the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the PAC Tournament.

That made Bortak’s team the first in school history to earn a No. 1 seed for a conference tournament. Chatham made it to the final before losing to the Bison, 3-1.

“It was great,” Watson, a Latrobe grad, said about the 2023 run. “It really just showed how hard we worked all season. It was so fulfilling to be able to do that not only as a team but for our school. The crowd that showed up was amazing. I had never played in front of that many people before.”

Watson was an integral part of the effort. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker ranked third on the team at 1.79 kills per set while hitting a team-leading .275. Twice she was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week.

She figures to be prominent again as the Cougars try to duplicate their effort of a year ago. Conference coaches believe Chatham can do it, voting the Cougars No. 1 in the preseason poll.

That, too, is a program first. And while coaches and players rarely put stock in preseason rankings, for Bortak and the Cougars, it’s a sign of respect as they try to establish themselves as perennial contenders in the PAC.

“It’s a huge respect to the athletes we’ve got in the gym working for us,” said Bortak, a Penn-Trafford grad in his seventh season as Chatham’s coach. “From where Chatham was to where we are now, we definitely take pride in that.

“But it’s a new season, and we have to go out and prove that we could be capable of that No. 1 spot.”

Added Watson: “I can’t lie and say it doesn’t mean something to us, but it definitely doesn’t change the fact that we’re going to keep working hard and stay disciplined in the gym and keep working toward another successful season.”

The 2024 Cougars might need to work a little harder. Nine seniors graduated from the 2023 PAC regular-season champs, and, in the early going, the new-look lineup — 13 of the 18 players on the roster are freshmen or sophomores — was still finding its mojo.

Heading into the weekend’s matches, the Cougars were 0-4, swept in each match during the Great Lakes Cross Over event in Sandusky, Ohio. But a couple of weeks remain before Chatham is faced with its first PAC match, so there is plenty of time to work out the kinks.

Watson will be counted on to increase her production. Her height and physicality make her an intimidating presence at the net, a quality Bortak aims to utilize while also expanding her game.

“When she crushes a ball, you know that Paige hit it,” Bortak said. “Now we’re going to look at her as maybe not having as much of an offensive load but work on getting the full, well-rounded game of blocking, some defense and definitely still some attacking. We’re just looking to polish her up a little bit more.”

Watson said she typically has been the tallest, most powerful player on the court throughout her playing days. With that, she said, comes the temptation to pound the ball as hard as she can every time there’s an opportunity. But she is learning to vary her shots and that finesse can be just as effective as brute strength.

She also has worked on shoring up her defense — positioning, closing holes in the blocks — as well as the intangible parts of her game. Watson said she is striving to be more vocal and trying to think the game more efficiently.

“My dad has always told me that sports are 90% mental,” she said, “and a big part of volleyball is court IQ and looking at the other side of the net before you even touch the ball. There’s always improvement in that aspect of the game.”

Added Bortak: “She’s the epitome of a sponge. You’re talking to her, she makes great eye contact. She responds well to criticism, and she seeks it out. … She’s a student of the game. She wants to get better and wants to grow and lead.”

Through the first four matches, the Cougars struggled to score points, and Watson averaged only 1.00 kill per set. Her blocks, on the other hand, were at 0.70 per set, up from 0.56 last season.

Those numbers figure to increase as she and her teammates continue to jell.

Bortak is confident Watson can be one of the more dominant middles in the PAC as she persists in refining her skills. All-conference accolades, he said, are well within reach.

But Watson said she isn’t worried about making all-conference. She said she simply tries to be a good teammate.

“I don’t come into a season expecting to win something for myself,” she said. “Of course, it would be very appreciated to see hard work pay off, but, overall, I’m here to be a part of a team and work with my team.”

And maybe show them a card trick or two.