Mercury All-Area: Harvey’s hard work and joyful play lead Pope John Paul II back to top

Pope John Paul II girls volleyball coach Ryan Sell considers himself an early bird — on time for Sell is usually 30 minutes early.

There was one Golden Panther who consistently one-upped her head coach throughout the 2019 season: junior setter and right side hitter Chelsea Harvey.

“When I pull in and Chelsea’s already beat me, I’m like, ‘Oh man. How long has she been here?’ She’s there early a lot,” Sell said. “She’s a really hard worker. She’s a gym rat.”

Harvey’s hard work and competitive mindset were a big factor in the Golden Panthers reclaiming the Pioneer Athletic Conference title and District 1 championship this season.

Those traits combined with her love of the sport and physical ability made Harvey the 2019 Mercury All-Area Player of the Year.

“I feel like this year, toward the end of the season, normally teams drift off and kind of get tired,” Harvey said. “We all, thanks to Ryan, he designed every practice to have us reach our full potential.

“By doing that, we played together and wanted to play that game and wanted to keep pushing on and see how far we can go … We all love the game so much.”

Harvey’s volleyball journey started growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. She was about five years old at her older brother’s basketball game when the bumping and setting a ball drew her attention to an adjacent court.

When the ball rolled out play toward the young Harvey, she started to play with it, mimicking what she was just watching.

“I had to give them the ball back, but I’ve been in love with the game ever since,” Harvey said.

Harvey started playing at the YMCA in fourth grade and was playing at a high club level not long after. She came to Pennsylvania in middle school and entered Pope John Paul II as a freshman in 2017.

As a freshman, Harvey became a varsity player for a talented PJP group that finished 14-0 in the PAC, won a league title and a District 1 Class 3A championship. As a sophomore Harvey earned second team all-league honors as the Golden Panthers fell to Upper Merion in the PAC title game and then to Villa Maria in the District 1-3A championship.

This season Harvey was a foundational piece as PJP rolled through the PAC with an unbeaten mark, won its first district title since 2017 and went to the PIAA quarterfinals, finishing the season with a 24-2 record. Harvey led PJP with 694 assists and was second with 40 aces, while also adding 79 kills and 116 digs.

“Her feet got a lot better, the way she moves to the ball,” Sell said. “Her set location got a lot better. Those are the two biggest things for her. And she was just kind of a little bit more comfortable running the offense.”

Sell said Harvey’s size — she’s 5-foot-11 — and athleticism and the fact that she’s left-handed allow her to do things on the court most high school players can’t physically do.

Harvey also had plenty of talent around her this season as the Golden Panthers placed five players on the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s All-Frontier first team. Her job was to put them in the right position play after play.

The Golden Panthers hit better than .300 on attacks as a team this season. Junior middle Hanna Tulli hit .340, senior middle Haley Spotts hit .350, and senior outside hitter Sarah Ward hit .329.

Harvey eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark for her career in a win over Interboro in the first round of the District 1 Class 3A Tournament on Oct. 23.

“It was really weird. Most of the time you don’t get that connection with your hitters until you play with them for a few years,” Harvey said. “Right when I came in as a freshman, the connection was there, especially with Hanna. Me and her connected right away.”

Pope John Paul II won its first 12 matches this season, all in straight sets, before a loss to eventual District 1-6A semifinalist Downingtown East. The Golden Panthers won their last four regular season contests all in straight sets and swept Methacton in their PAC semifinal.

Some of the team’s first adversity came in the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship against Boyertown. The Bears’ second-set win tied the game 1-1 and marked the first set dropped for the Golden Panthers in league play during the 2019 season.

PJP responded by scoring 10 of the first 12 points in the third game and took the next two sets to complete the championship victory. Sell said the victory showed Harvey’s leap in maturity this season.

“I think during the Boyertown game in the finals of the PAC was a pretty big step forward for her,” Sell said. “There were some ups and downs and that comes with being a little bit older, being able to handle the ups and downs a little bit.

“Maturity played a pretty big factor in that, kind of being able to get over some things that didn’t go well for us and finding a way to move forward. I thought that game was really, really good for her because there were some moments there when some things didn’t go right.”

Just because she has matured doesn’t mean Harvey doesn’t like to continue to have fun. The dance moves of the PJP volleyball team were well-documented during games this season.

Sell said that energy was the same in practice, where like the games Harvey was right in the middle of the fun — although she was banned from controlling the music at practice after turning the volume too loud one too many times.

“She’s always fun. That’s for sure,” Sell said. “She brings a super high energy to games, to practice. She’s super competitive. She’s always trying to find ways to win. She just likes to have fun.”

It’s clear the joy Harvey got playing with that loose ball years ago is still there.

Harvey, who already has a scholarship to play at Tulane in two years, said having teammates who matched her passion played a big role in the ability to accomplish almost everything they had set out to do before the season.

“We just all love the game, and it was so much fun playing with each other,” Harvey said. “It was just always a good time. We were always laughing. There was never a dull moment.”