North Allegheny, Seton LaSalle earn top seeds for WPIAL boys volleyball playoffs

By: Michael Love
Monday, May 17, 2021 | 12:36 PM

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North Allegheny and Seton LaSalle are the top seeds in their respective boys volleyball playoff brackets as the WPIAL released the Class AAA and AA pairings Monday afternoon.

The first round begins Tuesday with games in both classifications.

The top five teams in each Class AAA and Class AA section received playoff bids. Because of covid and other factors, a couple of sections were not able complete all of their matches. But in those cases, the WPIAL was able to determine the five qualifiers.

In Section 2-AA, Summit Academy announced that it would not play its schedule this spring which left the section with only five teams. All five enter the playoffs.

The WPIAL championship games for both Class AAA and Class AA will be May 27 at Fox Chapel High School. That same night, Bethel Park will host two third-place consolation matches.

The top three teams in both Class AAA and Class AA will advance to the PIAA playoffs which will begin June 1. The finals are set for June 12 at Penn State.

North Allegheny will attempt to win its fourth WPIAL Class AAA title in as many seasons, its 12th since the PIAA went to two classifications in 2007, and its 21st in program history.

The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s WPIAL Class AAA poll for almost the entire season, finished Section 2-AAA play 12-0.

Joining North Allegheny as the top seeds in Class AAA are No. 2 Seneca Valley, No. 3 Penn-Trafford and No. 4 Hempfield. The Tigers receive a bye to the quarterfinals in the 15-team field.

Since 2007, the only teams to win WPIAL Class AAA titles besides North Allegheny were Fox Chapel in 2015 and Penn-Trafford in 2016.

Seton LaSalle, which rolled through Section 3 at 10-0, received a bye into the Class AA quarterfinals as it seeks its first WPIAL title.

The other top seeds in Class AA are No. 2 North Catholic, No. 3 Ambridge and No. 4 Hopewell.

Ambridge is the two-time defending WPIAL Class AA champion, having captured gold in both 2018 and 2019. The Bridgers have the most Class AA titles — nine — since the 2007 classification split.

Ambridge also won the 2002 WPIAL title.

A broadcast of the playoff brackets release is at Trib HSSN.

Check out the brackets here.

Volleyball

Boys

WPIAL playoffs

Class AAA

First round

Tuesday’s schedule

Upper St. Clair (12-5) at Norwin (8-5), 7 p.m.; Bethel Park (7-7) at Hempfield (10-2), 7 p.m.; Latrobe (6-7) at Butler (11-8), 7 p.m.; Armstrong (4-10) at Seneca Valley (13-2), 7 p.m.; South Fayette (9-8) at Fox Chapel (7-7), 7 p.m.; Canon-McMillan (6-11) at Penn-Trafford (12-2), 7 p.m.; Shaler (5-7) at Peters Township (15-3), 7 p.m.

Bye: North Allegheny (12-0)

Class AA

First round

Tuesday’s schedule

Plum (4-5) at Trinity (8-4), 7 p.m.; Derry (3-5) at Hopewell (10-4), 7 p.m.; Bishop Canevin (5-10) at OLSH (10-7), 7 p.m.; Keystone Oaks (4-10) at North Catholic (13-2), 7 p.m.; Montour (5-8) at Mars (5-9), 7 p.m.; Gateway (4-4) at Ambridge (8-2), 7 p.m.; Thomas Jefferson (10-7) at Deer Lakes (7-4), 7 p.m.

Bye: Seton LaSalle (19-1)

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.