PIAA Class AAAA volleyball finals primer: North Allegheny vs. Bishop Shanahan

By: Michael Love
Friday, November 15, 2019 | 5:16 PM

Bishop Shanahan (23-0) vs. North Allegheny (22-1)

6 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg

Coaches: Greg Ashman, Bishop Shanahan; Heidi Miller, North Allegheny

Players to watch: Abby Miller, senior, setter/opposite, North Allegheny; Cara Shultz, senior, outside hitter, Bishop Shanahan.

How they got here: District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan defeated District 3 third-place finisher Cumberland Valley, 3-0; District 1 fourth-place finisher Pennsbury, 3-0; and District 11 champion Parkland, 3-0; WPIAL runner-up North Allegheny defeated District 10 champion McDowell, 3-0; District 6 champion State College, 3-0; and District 3 champion Landisville Hempfield, 3-1.

Set points: North Allegheny is going after its third straight PIAA championship and sixth in the history of the program. It swept Bishop Shanahan in the finals the past two seasons. The Tigers also won three state titles in a row from 1992-94. … North Allegheny’s only loss this season came to Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL title game, and it snapped a 65-match winning streak dating to the WPIAL playoffs in 2016. … The Tigers got a well-rounded effort Tuesday against Hempfield and overwhelmed the Black Knights in Game 4, winning 25-9. Hannah Phillips tallied a team-best nine kills, Abby Miller added eight, and Paige Morningstar, Madison Curran and Mia Tuman contributed six apiece. … Bishop Shanahan is going after its first PIAA title since 2009 when it defeated District 11’s Allentown Central Catholic for the Class AAA crown. The Eagles, owners of eight District 1 championships, including their fifth in a row in 2019, have not lost a game in their last 11 matches and have surrendered just three games in 23 matches overall. … Shultz, an all-state hitter, leads the Bishop Shanahan offensive attack. She is averaging more than five kills a set this season. The Eagles have also gotten key play from 6-foot sophomore middle blocker Maddie Rudolph and 6-1 sophomore outside hitter/opposite Coco Shultz.

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.

Tags: North Allegheny