Ruby Olliffe enjoyed a gem of a diving career at Quaker Valley.
The QV senior capped her brilliant career with a third-place finish at the PIAA Class 2A girls finals at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
Olliffe racked up 392.70 points to end up behind Hampton’s Gabby Elk (433 points) and Upper Moreland’s Justine Frantz (411.15 points).
“I think Ruby did extremely well at states,” said Vernon Yenick, QV’s diving coach. “She was winning at one point and went into her final dive and missed it slightly for the bronze. Ruby is an incredible student-athlete. Her grades are impeccable. She’s very intellectual.”
Olliffe ended up sixth and seventh in the state as a freshman and sophomore then placed fourth last season.
“In the four years that I’ve coached Ruby in high school, she has improved exponentially every year and had a lot of fun with her love of the sport,” Yenick said. ”She’s never been negative, and she’s very supportive of all the swimmers. Unfortunately, she was the only diver this year (at QV), so she had to dive alone at most meets.”
Despite experiencing the isolation of practicing and competing as her team’s lone diving specialist, Olliffe surfaced as a team leader in 2024-25.
“She definitely is a team leader,” Yenick said. “Ruby worked well with me and head coach Merci McCarthy. Ruby’s personality is extremely upbeat. She’s very funny and curious.
“We really enjoyed coaching her. She makes corrections quickly and has excellent form and also is great at making no splash, which is called a rip.’”
While Olliffe placed third to earn her fourth career PIAA medal, QV senior Thomas Fuener bolted to his first in the boys 100-yard butterfly event.
“We are honored they put Quaker Valley in the medal count,” McCarthy said. “Along with Ruby’s diving at states, the ladies team qualified two relays, Margaret Getty in two individual events and Amelia Suhayda also swam an individual event.”
Olliffe has signed with Bucknell University, the annual destination spot for PIAA diving finalists.
“Ruby is excited to be a part of Bucknell’s team. I know she will do incredibly well diving in the Division I Patriot League,” Yenick said. “I’m certainly going to miss her. I really had fun coaching Ruby. Her charm and grace and incredibly beautiful diving was always an inspiration, but I know she will go onto great success not only in diving but in the real world, as well.
“The kid is a super talent, and I am lucky and extremely grateful for being able to be her coach. It was a great four years.”
Olliffe plans to major in business management in college. Errol Carter is the diving coach at Bucknell.
“I really liked the coach,” Olliffe said, “and they offered me an amazing scholarship to an amazing school. I could not pass it up.
“I’m looking forward to having a team and a consistent coach and making friends.”
Olliffe and Elk also tangled for the WPIAL 2A championship this year with the Hampton diver winning the title by a slight 444.25-431.95 score.
“It was a battle for first place at the WPIAL finals,” Yenick said. “Again, Ruby at one point was winning, and it came down to the last dive where Gabby Elk pulled out an excellent forward two-and-a half somersault tuck — the same dive that Ruby was going to do. And unfortunately, she slightly outscored Ruby.”
McCarthy believes Quaker Valley’s loss will be Bucknell’s gain.
“It’s good for (Olliffe) to compete with such a talented diver as Gabby Elk,” said the QV coach. “It will benefit Ruby in her college diving career. Bucknell will be her home board for the next four years.”
QVs two other PIAA girls finalists were Getty, a senior who finished 12th in both the 200 free (1:58.42) and 500 free (5:18.53), and Suhayda, a freshman who placed 13th in the 100 butterfly (59.77).
“I was very happy with my performance at WPIALs,” Getty said, “especially in the 500 freestyle as that was the highest I’ve ever placed. My goal was to hold my ranking in both events to have a good placement at states, and I was able to improve in both of them.
“The 500 freestyle time was my personal-best. The 500 freestyle takes a lot of endurance, so it requires longer swim sets, more pace work and being not just physically prepared but mentally prepared to swim longer events.”
The QV girls 200 medley relay team, consisting of sophomores Lydia Kilpela and Anna Fuener, Suhayda and Getty, and the 200 freestyle relay team, comprised of Kilpela, junior Alexa Westwood, Suhayda and Getty, also qualified for states.
Getty earned 13 WPIAL medals in her scholastic swim career, along with one PIAA medal.
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“For states, while I didn’t accomplish my goal of winning a medal, I still placed higher in both events than in the past,” Getty said. “I was coming off a wrist injury where I was out of the pool for a month during the season, and it was hard to get back in shape in time for the championship meets. I feel I did pretty well considering I was out of the water for so long, and I was proud of myself.”
QV’s girls team tied for 24th place with Brockway from District 9 in the final PIAA 2A standings.
Earlier in the season, the Quakers repeated as undefeated section champions then placed ninth at the WPIAL finals.
“With Ruby bringing second-place diving points to the (team) total,” McCarthy said.
“Thanks to my co-coaches Matt Kwalick and Vernon Yenick for helping to create this year’s team success.
“Thanks also to the Sewickley YMCA for the accommodations its facility provide, and to Chuck Destro of Destro Machines for the training equipment.”
Olliffe was the WPIAL runner-up in girls diving all four years of her career.
“I was really hoping for the gold this year, but Gab (Elk) was on it that day and absolutely crushed it,” Olliffe said. “I thought I was very consistent and had a solid meet. My goal for states was to just do better than the year before.”
Getty was captain of the QV girls team in 2024-25.
“One of the most exciting things of the season was we accomplished our goal of winning the section for the fifth year in a row,” she said, “especially since our girls team was smaller than in prior years. We also finished second at the MAC championship meet, which was exciting for us. And two of our relays qualified to compete at states.
“I was very grateful to be captain for such an amazing group of girls. There is a lot of support and strong relationships among us, which made the season even more enjoyable. This was an amazing team to be a part of, and I will miss swimming with all of them. I know I will always have great memories of my time with the Quaker Valley swim team.”
Getty was appreciative of the fact she started and ended her swim career locally under the guidance of coach McCarthy.
“Coach Merci and coach Matt were great coaches for my senior season,” she said. “Especially with my injury, they were very supportive.
“It was a fitting end to my high school career with coach Merci as she was my first swim instructor and coach at the Edgeworth Club.”