Pine-Richland stuns NA
N. Allegheny’s 33-match run ends in final
The WPIAL Class 4A girls volleyball championship featured teams that played twice during the regular season, as No. 1 seed North Allegheny swept No. 2 Pine-Richland in two Section 1 encounters.
The rematch was shockingly different.
Pine-Richland pulled a major upset by knocking off the two-time defending WPIAL champions in a five-set marathon at Robert Morris University’s UPMC Events Center on Saturday. Pine-Richland won, 32, to knock North Allegheny (18-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten and end the Tigers’ 33-match win streak. They had won four of the past five WPIAL titles.
Pine-Richland (15-2) won the first and third sets, 25-21 and 25-22. North Allegheny won the second and fourth sets, 25-20 and 25-15. The fifth set was a thriller as Pine-Richland recorded a 15-11 victory to claim its fourth WPIAL title and first since 2010.
“I had a dream for the past four months in which I can vividly see us winning the WPIAL title and hearing [the song] ‘We Are The Champions’,” Pine-Richland coach Angela Seman said. “These girls worked so hard and never gave up. It’s an incredible experience to see my dream come to life.”
North Allegheny had no answer for Pine-Richland’s hitting combo of Kaili Doctor (26 kills) and Katie Yanni (16 kills).
“I have been wishing for this moment since my freshman year,” said Doctor, a North Carolina A&T recruit. “Making it this far is amazing. It’s the best match I’ve ever played.”
Ella Deeter led North Allegheny with 14 kills.
Class 3A-2A
It doesn’t matter which class North Catholic and Freeport are in. Both won another WPIAL title.
North Catholic moved up to Class 3A and Freeport down to Class 2A when the WPIAL realigned for the 2022-23 school year. Both teams had most of their squad returning and made the most of it by winning another title.
North Catholic was making its debut in Class 3A after making four consecutive appearances in the Class 2A final, winning the past two. The top-seeded Trojans (19-1) made it three in a row with a hard-fought 3-1 win against No. 10 South Fayette (13-6) in the Class 3A match.
South Fayette was making its second title appearance and first since losing in the2007 Class 2A final.
“The experience we picked up in our other title match appearances played a big part in us winning tonight,” North Catholic coach Amanda Fetter said. “We were scary calm before thematch. It was just like another day at the office for us. The girls knew what to expect and didn’t panic when we lost the third set.”
North Catholic jumped out to a 2-0 advantage with wins of 25-22 and 25-20, but South Fayette dominated the third set, 25-12, behind the hitting of Ava Leroux, who led all hitters with 17 kills.
In the fourth set, South Fayette kept it close and even led 18-17, but North Catholic rallied to pull out a 25-22 victory and clinch the title.
Freeport was making its 10th appearance in a title match and claimed its seventh title, including three in the past four years. The topseeded Yellow Jackets (20-2) recorded a 3-1 win against No. 2 seed Shenango (16-2) in the Class 2A title match.
“Shenango was a worthy opponent,” Freeport coach Tom Phillips said. “We really had to battle today. Losing that first set was a gut punch, but we didn’t lose composure.”
Shenango posted a 25-19 victory in the first set behind the hitting of Kylee Rubin, who had seven of her matchhigh 28 kills. Freeport rebounded to win the next three sets, 25-18, 25-22, and 2523, to claim the title.
Class 1A
It was a family feud.
Both head coaches had two daughters in the starting lineup.
Frazier coach Mandy Hartman and her daughters Jensyn and Gracen won the feud as the No. 2 seeded Commodores (22-0) earned a 3-0 sweep of top seed Serra (18-2).
Frazier was making its third title match appearance, its first since 2018, and claimed its second title.
“I’ve been wanting one of these since I was a baby,” said Frazier outside hitter Jensyn Hartman. “I was 6 years old when we won our first WPIAL title (in 2010). It’s an incredible experience to finally get my own gold medal.”
Jensyn Hartman had eight of her match-high 14 kills in Frazier’s 25-20 firstset victory. It was balanced in the final two sets as Frazier got two 25-19 wins to end it.