North Allegheny driven to final

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Not even a broken down bus could keep the North Allegheny boys volleyball team from earning another PIAA title berth.

The Tigers were stranded on Route 22 for two hours after their bus broke down. Despite the delay, the Tigers arrived with time to spare for the 6 p.m. match at Altoona High School.

“We were 10 minutes shy of Ebensburg when the bus broke down,” North Allegheny coach Dan Schall said. “Fortunately, we left early. Our hope was to arrive at 3 p.m., have something to eat, and have time to walk around.

“Altoona High School came to the rescue. Our athletic director is good friends with Altoona’s athletic director. They arranged to have one of Altoona’s buses pick us up. We arrived at the high school at 5:15.”

Schall’s squad made the best of the situation and recorded a 3-1 win against Central Dauphin to earn its 15th PIAA title berth, which sets a PIAA record. The Tigers had shared the record of 14 title appearances with Peabody since 2014.

“That speaks to the great tradition our program has built over the years,” Schall said. “So much of that is due to the leadership of [former] coach [Bob] Miller. We’re very proud of that.”

North Allegheny qualified for the PIAA tournament by winning its 12th WPIAL title in 15 years. The Tigers opened the state playoffs with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Landisville Hempfield in the first round, then swept Bethel Park, 3-0, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, North Allegheny used three late rallies to record a 3-1 win against Central Dauphin. The Tigers were one point away from defeat in the first set, but scored the final five points to record a 26-24 victory. The Tigers held a narrow lead most of the second set and finished their 25-19 victory by scoring the final six points.

Central Dauphin dominated the third set, leading by as many as eight points, and claimed a 25-21 victory. In the fourth set, the Tigers rallied from a 22-20 deficit by scoring the final five points in a 25-22 win. Canyon Tuman led North Allegheny with 13 kills, while Luke Visgitis contributed 10.

“The kids made the best of the situation and came through when we needed it,” Schall said. “It’s great be going back to the state finals.” North Allegheny will face District 3 champion Central York in the title match at 1 p.m. Saturday at Penn State’s Rec Hall.

“Central York is really good,” Schall said. “They have no flaws. We have a lot of studying to do because they run a very intricate offense. The kids are really looking forward to it.”

Class 2A

Beaver County Christian became the first program in school history to earn a PIAA title berth with Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Cochranton in a semifinal match held at Slippery Rock High School.

“The boys are excited because they went further than our girls team went,” said Beaver County Christian coach Christen Adels, referring to her 2008 squad, which lost in the PIAA Class 1A semifinals. We are really humbled to make it this far.”

Beaver County Christian qualified for the PIAA tournament by winning its second consecutive WPIAL title. The Eagles opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Cambridge Springs, then rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat York Suburban in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Beaver County Christian rallied from a poor start to post a 2523 win in the first set.

“That’s not surprising,” Adels said. “This squad has a tendency to start slow. We just chipped away at Cochranton’s lead and were able to pull out the victory.”

Beaver County Christian rolled to a 25-18 victory in the second set, then dropped a 26-24 decision in the third set, but took charge in the fourth set with a 25-18 win to clinch the match victory.

“Daniel Townsend and Adam Shaw each had 15 kills, and Peter Barbato had 10,” Adels said. “That’s impressive to have three hitters with double-digit kills. We’re going to need that kind of balance in the title match.”

Beaver County Christian will face four-time defending PIAA champion Northeastern in the title match at 11 a.m. Saturday, also at Penn State’s Rec Hall.

“We played Northeastern in our first match of the season, so it’s appropriate that we also play them in the final match of the season,” said Adels, referring to the Eagles’ 3-0 loss to the Bobcats.

“We are clearly the underdog in this one. We have our work cut out for us, but the kids are really looking forward to the challenge.”