Beaver Christian surprises Ambridge
It was a night of firsts at the WPIAL boys volleyball finals, held Friday night at Baldwin High School.
Beaver County Christian opened the festivities with a 3-0 upset of four-time defending champion Ambridge in the Class AA final. It was the first WPIAL title for an Eagles program in its eighth year of existence.
In the Class AAA final, top-seeded Penn-Trafford claimed it’s first WPIAL title with a 3-0 sweep of No. 3 Bethel Park.
“It’s really sweet [to finally win a WPIAL title],” said Penn-Trafford coach Jim Schall, in his 14th season. “We played two really good teams this week and knew we had our work cut out for us. It feels great.”
The first set of the Class AAA final was a marathon, as the lead changed 14 times. Penn-Trafford pulled out a 33-31 victory with Brendan O’Toole recording the Warriors’ final three points with kills. O’Toole had nine kills in the set.
The momentum from the first set carried over to the second set as Penn-Trafford recorded a 25-20 victory in that game, then built a 19-12 lead in the third set and held, despite a late rally by Bethel Park, for a 27-25 victory.
“It’s amazing. I can’t believe we did that,” Warriors junior outside hitter Brandon McGowan said. “[Bethel Park] is strong in every position. To beat them like that is amazing. I never thought at the beginning of the season that we would be winning the gold medal.”
O’Toole led the Warriors with his 20 kills.
McGowan contributed seven kills, and Zach Werksman added six kills and eight blocks.
“Too many errors,” Bethel Park coach Tom Allman said. “We had way too many errors. Too many serving errors, too many hitting errors, too many net errors and double contacts. They are a good team. They kept the pressure on us all night.”
Bethel Park was led by Jake Dixon, who led with 25 kills and three blocks, and Michael Kapusta had eight kills.
The Class AA final was a rematch, as Ambridge beat Beaver County Christian twice in section play.
“I’m shocked,” Christen Adels said. “I never thought this would be a 3-0 match. We lost in five and then lost in four. I thought we could win, but I never thought we would sweep Ambridge.”
Beaver County Christian jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first set and increased its lead to 13-5, but the Eagles allowed Ambridge to battle back and tie the match at 21-21.
The Eagles eventually pulled out a 29-27 victory and took charge from that point.
Ambridge led, 11-8, in the second set, but Beaver County Christian rebounded to pull out a 25-20 victory.
The third set was a real battle, as Ambridge tried to keep its title hopes alive, but the Eagles pulled out a 25-23 victory to clinch the match at title.
“We lost, 3-2, to Ambridge in last year’s [WPIAL] semifinals and twice in section this year,” Eagles setter Matthew Knab said. “It’s great to finally beat them.”
Beaver County Christian was led by Quinn McCracken, who recorded 25 kills, while Matthew Knab tallied 39 assists.
The four finalists, along with third-place finishers North Allegheny and Deer Lakes, qualified for the PIAA championships, which begin Wednesday.