Awards, trophies and banners recognizing the Quarzo sisters — Gionna and JoJo — and Tessa Dellarose can be found throughout Brownsville High School.
As a student there, Skyler Gates notices them daily.
“Seeing their names on the walls … like JoJo. She has like a million banners. I wanted to be like her,” Gates said.
Mission accomplished.
Gates, a 6-foot-4 junior and volleyball standout, recently decided to follow in the footsteps of those former Brownsville stars when she committed to an ACC school. Gates, a middle blocker, gave a verbal commitment to the University of Virginia.
While Brownsville’s football team has had 23 consecutive losing seasons and the boys basketball team hasn’t notched a playoff win in a decade, the school, located in Fayette County, has produced some terrific female athletes in recent years. The Quarzo sisters are former WPIAL and PIAA champions who run cross country and track at N.C. State, while Dellarose was an All-American soccer player at Brownsville who now plays that sport at North Carolina, where she is a team captain in what is her junior season.
Gates said she would sometimes talk to JoJo in school the one year of high school in which they overlapped. Earlier this summer, Gates’ father set up a phone conversation between his daughter and Dellarose, who spoke to Gates about the recruiting process.
“I think it’s pretty awesome,” Gates said of the many female Brownsville standouts. “I think it’s really amazing to have a lot of us come from a small town like this. Not a lot of people know about us, but we’ve still shown that we can do some great things.”
It’s hard to miss Gates, who at 6-4 is one of the tallest female athletes in the WPIAL and is 8 inches taller than any of her teammates. To Gates, who also excels in basketball, being a very tall 16-year-old girl has its pros and cons.
“The worst part is finding clothes,” she said. “Like pants, they’re so expensive. A pair of sweatpants are like $80. That’s definitely the worst part, but the best part is always being noticed. I like being tall. I think it’s awesome.”
Sort of like how Gates is on the volleyball court. Gates, who plays club volleyball for Rise, is a former all-section choice who also had offers from UAB and UMBC. She said Utah and Arizona State were both showing interest but that the offer from Virginia was too good to pass up. She visited the school, located in Charlottesville, July 27-28.
“It’s close to home, and I like that,” said Gates, an outstanding student who carries a 4.0 GPA. “I like their colors a lot and I love their campus. The coaches are awesome, and it’s the ACC, which is pretty awesome.”
As a basketball star, Gates earned all-section honors her sophomore season when she averaged 17.7 points per game. Gates said she was receiving some interest from colleges in that sport.
“Basketball definitely was an idea for a little bit,” she said, “but I just like volleyball a tiny bit more now.”
Spell No. 1 RB in the country
The nation’s top running back in the 2027 class plays at McKeesport. So says On3, which dubbed Tigers sophomore Kemon Spell the country’s top back when it released its 2027 rankings last week. On3 also ranked Spell the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania and No. 7 player in the country. Spell (5-10, 195) made a verbal commitment to Penn State earlier this month. He made a splash as a freshman, running for 517 yards — while averaging 14 yards a tote — and scoring 12 touchdowns for a McKeesport team that reached the WPIAL Class 4A final. It wasn’t all that long ago that another WPIAL product was tabbed as the country’s No. 1 running back recruit. Woodland Hills’ Miles Sanders was rated the top all-purpose running back in the 2016 class by Rivals. Sanders went on to star at Penn State and is now entering his sixth season in the NFL.
First offer
Just weeks before his junior season kicked off, Canon-McMillan’s TJ Sabatucci was awarded with his first FBS offer. Sabatucci (6-2, 225) is an excellent tight end-defensive end who was offered by Miami (Ohio). Sabatucci earned all-conference recognition on the offensive side of the ball his sophomore season when two of his four catches went for touchdowns. He also collected 28 tackles, including nine tackles for loss, and registered four sacks.
Baseball commitments
Beaver’s Ty Butler (Gardner-Webb); Belle Vernon’s Parker Lind (Kent State); Chartiers Valley’s Michael Switala (California); Greensburg Central Catholic’s Anthony Grippo (Penn State); Shaler’s Logan Bauer (California).
Soccer commitments
Beaver’s Sydney Chontos (Robert Morris); North Catholic’s Simone Sharpless (Western Michigan); South Fayette’s Mia Deramo (Youngstown State).
Softball commitments
Montour’s Shania Cope (Point Park); Union’s Mia Preuhs (Canisius).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.