A share of the Section 5-A lead will be up for grabs tomorrow night when the Jefferson-Morgan High School girls' volleyball team plays host to Geibel.

"It's been at least six years since we beat Gebibel," said coach Ron Headlee, who has led the Rockets to 10 consecutive WPIAL Class A playoff berths. "We didn't play well the first time we met this year [Sept. 11 at Geibel]. We're hoping for a better performance on our court."

Geibel entered last Thursday's match against West Greene with an 8-0 record in Section 5-A. Jefferson-Morgan took a 5-1 section mark into its match at California.

"Our only loss in the first half of section play was to Geibel," Headlee said. "We have a chance to share the section title with Geibel [or even win it outright if the Gators should stumble in any of their other two remaining matches], if we can beat them."

Jefferson-Morgan hasn't won a section title since 2001.

"We tied Geibel for the section title in 1998 and 1999, then won the title in 2000 and 2001," Headlee said.

Geibel is No. 2 in the WPIAL Class A rankings, behind top-ranked Bentworth. Jeff-Morgan is ranked No. 10.

"Our only other loss was to Bentworth in a non-section match," Headlee said. "That means our only losses were to the top two teams in the rankings. Bentworth is the team to beat in the WPIAL."

Headlee said Geibel and Jefferson-Morgan have similar squads.

"Geibel has a sound squad that doesn't make mistakes," Headlee said. "They don't have a great hitter, like in the past. The same is true for us. We don't have a star hitter. We play very good defense and try not to let the ball hit the floor."

Headlee's squad is dominated by juniors.

"We had a very talented sophomore class last year," Headlee said. "I took some grief last year for playing some of these girls, but the experience they gained is paying off this year."

The Rockets setter is Morgan Olson, a 5-foot-8 junior.

"Morgan's mother, Lisa, is my assistant coach," Headlee said. "Her twin sisters, Lindsay and Sarah, are playing at Bethany College. Morgan did a great job setting for us last year as a sophomore, and she's improved this year."

Olson is one of six Jefferson-Morgan players who are also playing club ball. The other five are 5-7 junior outside hitter Kaylie Becker, 6-1 junior middle hitter Mabel Culp, 5-2 junior libero Marissa Cameron, 5-3 junior defensive specialist Chelsey Byers and 5-6 sophomore outside hitter Paige Huber.

"Mabel is our go-to girl," Headlee said. "She was our second middle hitter last year. Now she's stepped into the spotlight. Her best game was against Frazier, when she had 19 kills."

Culp, Olson, Becker, Cameron and Byers are among eight returning letter-winners. The others three are 5-8 junior middle hitter Shelby Yourchik, 5-4 senior setter Natalie Broadwater and 5-7 junior defensive specialist Heather Herbert.

"Natalie is our lone senior, so we are still a young team," Headlee said. "It's been fun watching these kids mature."

Huber is one of four sophomores who are seeing playing time with the varsity. The other three are 5-9 middle/outside hitter Courtney Lippencott, 5-8 outside hitter Katrina Kudasik and 5-4 back-row specialist Shayla Kerr.