North Allegheny volleyball team vows to avoid complacency during PIAA playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 8, 2018 | 7:45 PM

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Moving toward another appearance in the PIAA Class AAA girls volleyball final will require constantly tinkering.

Compiling 44 straight match wins, the latest of which came during a 3-0 sweep of McDowell in the PIAA opening round last Tuesday, won’t breed complacency for the North Allegheny girls volleyball team.

The WPIAL champion Tigers (20-0), who swept Baldwin, 3-0, in the district final, were scheduled to take on State College in the PIAA quarterfinals Saturday, after deadline for this edition.

“We’re doing well, we have new things we are trying for different reasons,” coach Heidi Miller said. “We’re trying to get everybody healthy. We’re working through the same things everybody does at the end of the year. We are trying to peak at the right time.”

North Allegheny, which has only lost two sets this season, only faced one five-set match in the postseason during its state championship run last season. Miller wants the Tigers to be prepared for such a battle.

“It might be that we need a different offensive look or matchup,” Miller said. “We’ve got kids who are trying to figure out what is the best thing they could give us. … If we have three matches left, all the teams are going to be very good. We’re just trying to give ourselves options for what is going to allow us to be our best.”

While Miller didn’t want to tip her hand on strategy changes made in the first round, North Allegheny found the right mix during its win over the Trojans.

The Tigers rolled to a 25-9 win in the first set. Paige Miller led the Tigers with 13 kills. Anna Sprys and Madison Curran also helped contribute on the attack.

“I was happy they came out and jumped on Erie McDowell in the first game and were able to sustain a high level the whole way through,” Miller said. “I have 16 kids dressing and got 15 girls in the game. It’s fun when you get a whole bunch of kids in and get them stats.”

What has helped this North Allegheny team is that all of this is familiar territory.

Being able to adjust deep into the playoffs is something the Tigers had to do last season.

That ended with a PIAA championship.

“They talk about that all the time,” Miller said. “They’ve had their backs against the wall in a tight match where they had to grit it out and so they know. A lot of the girls were in a uniform on the court when that was happening.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny