High School category, Page 754
Pine-Richland volleyball team makes strong statement in playoff loss
The Pine-Richland girls volleyball team certainly did not go down without a fight. In their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game with Moon, the Rams found themselves down 2-1 in the match after dropping two consecutive sets, but rallied to win the fourth set and pushed the Tigers to the limit...
Persia leads Plum runners at WPIAL championship meet
Ashley Persia ran her final high school cross country race Oct. 28 at the WPIAL championships, and the Plum senior made her move throughout the race and finished 48th in Class 3A at Cal (Pa). While Persia didn’t reach her goal of a trip to states, Mustangs’ coach Stephanie Lednak...
Plum girls volleyball turns attention to PIAA playoffs
The Plum girls volleyball team had its sights set on the WPIAL Class 3A championship game as it faced Hampton in the semifinals Nov. 2 at Gateway. The Mustangs won a pair of close games, 26-24, to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match. However, the Talbots rallied...
Norwin notebook: Boys soccer team stung by quarterfinal loss
Stunned and seemingly unsure what to do next, Norwin boys soccer players gathered at midfield and talked over a 1-0, season-ending playoff loss to North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals. The home defeat was quite unexpected — the way it happened, where it happened and who it happened...
Norwin, kept out of playoffs by tiebreakers, savors win in season finale
Norwin players and coaches were all smiles after their final football game of the season. They lingered long after they handled Hempfield, 27-7, on the road to finish 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the WPIAL Class 6A conference. “It’s a blessing to see,” senior quarterback Luke Levendosky said. “Our guys...
Gateway’s Madi Jesih commits to play soccer at Robert Morris
In less than two years, Gateway junior Madi Jesih will trade Gators black and gold for Robert Morris red, white and blue. The talented center defensive midfielder recently gave a verbal commitment to continue her athletic pursuits at the next level with the Division I Colonials women’s soccer team. “I...
Behind young roster, Gateway boys soccer looks forward to promising future
It wasn’t the way the Gateway boys soccer team wanted to close out its 2021 season. The Gators finished third in Section 4-3A and were the No. 11 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. Gateway played even with No. 6 Kiski Area for the first half of their first-round matchup Oct....
Sewickley Academy girls tennis team caps super season with trip to state finals
WPIAL champion Sewickley Academy finished the girls tennis season with honors, ending up as PIAA runners-up. The SA girls stormed through the regular season and playoffs until losing a tight 3-2 decision to Wyoming Seminary in the PIAA Class 2A finals Oct. 30 at Hershey Racquet Club. The Panthers closed...
Penn-Trafford looks to continue to build after successful season
It wasn’t the way the Penn-Trafford girls’ volleyball team wanted it to end, with a loss to section rival Oakland Catholic. But veteran coach Jim Schall said he was pleased with how the season went. The Warriors were prominent again. They finished 17-4 overall and 10-2 in Section 3-4A. They...
Steady improvement, versatile offense give Penn Hills playoff confidence
Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne might’ve preferred a bye for the first week of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, but admits being scheduled to host Franklin Regional in the first round had its advantages. The Indians, who won the Northeast Conference on Gardner points after tying with North Hills and...
North Allegheny beats rival Shaler in instant classic to take 8th WPIAL volleyball title
After splitting a pair of matches in the regular season, No. 1 North Allegheny and No. 2 Shaler did not disappoint when the two powers from Section 1-4A met for the third time Saturday. A wild, five-set match ended with the top-seeded Tigers claiming their eighth WPIAL title and second...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 6, 2021
High schools Cross country Boys Saturday’s results PIAA championships at Hershey Park Class 3A Individual: 1. CJ Singleton, Butler, 15:52.9; 2. Drew Griffiths, Butler, 15:58.1; 3. Caleb Kenyon, North Pocono, 16:03.6; 4. Ethan Fingerhut, Haverford, 16:13.1; 5; Brett Kroboth, Peters Township, 16:15.5. Other local finishers in top 25: 8. Scott...
5 things we learned: Home-field advantage didn’t guarantee wins in WPIAL 1st round
There are high school football stadiums in Western Pennsylvania where visiting teams rarely win. New Brighton walked into one of those daunting places Friday night and confidently won. The Lions, seeded 13th in the WPIAL Class 2A bracket, celebrated a dramatic victory over No. 4 Washington, 21-20, in overtime. As...
Freeport beats section rival Hampton to win its 6th WPIAL volleyball championship
It might be tough for any coach with six WPIAL titles to pick out the most satisfying one. But Freeport coach Tom Phillips was quick to point out that Saturday’s 3-1 victory over section rival Hampton was tops. “I think it’s not only one of the best, but the best,”...
Knoch’s Greb sisters win state tennis gold
Because she was playing with her twin sister Lindsey, Emily Greb felt like she might have had a slight advantage over the field at the PIAA Class 2A doubles championships this weekend. Not because of some kind of twin magic, where each knows what the other is thinking via ESP....
North Catholic volleyball gets past Avonworth in WPIAL championship battle
After dropping the WPIAL soccer title to Avonworth earlier Saturday, North Catholic won the second WPIAL championship matchup of the day between the two schools. The Trojans won their third WPIAL volleyball title in the last four seasons with a 3-1 victory over the Antelopes in the Class 2A finals...
Clutch plays from Zach Panza lift Hampton past West Allegheny in Class 3A WPIAL finals
It’s not often that a player scores the game-winning goal and makes a huge save in the same game, but Zach Panza managed to pull off both accomplishments Saturday. And it was enough to propel Hampton boys soccer to its first WPIAL championship in a decade. Panza, a center back,...
Mars tops Plum for WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship
For the third consecutive season, the two teams in the WPIAL Class 3A final were Mars and Plum, and for the third time it was the Planets claiming the district crown with a 2-1 victory Saturday at Highmark Stadium. In doing so, Mars (16-0-1) became the first school to three-peat...
Seneca Valley beats Peters Township to repeat as WPIAL Class 4A champs
Last season, the Seneca Valley Raiders won WPIAL and state boys soccer championships with an experienced team and lost a fair amount from that group to graduation. The run involved a double overtime win over Peters Township in the WPIAL title match, and the two teams set on a collision...
Emotional Bishop Canevin beats GCC to win 5th consecutive WPIAL Class A volleyball title
A year ago, Angela Wyman stepped into some big shoes, and she’s been walking the sideline since. Different coach, same result for the Bishop Canevin girls volleyball team. “It’s been a transition year, a hard year, an emotional year,” Wyman said Saturday after top-seeded Bishop Canevin rallied from a first-set...
Finalists announced for girls soccer’s Moe Rosensteel Award
Three finalists have been announced for the third Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year Award, which recognizes the top player in WPIAL girls soccer. Moon junior midfielder Hailey Longwell, senior midfielder Kelsey Salopek of Steel Valley and junior forward Lucia Wells of North Allegheny are up for the award started...
Moon’s Cochran, Butler’s Singleton win state cross country titles
It was quite an exciting day for cross country teams from the WPIAL on Saturday at the PIAA championships in Hershey. Moon senior Mia Cochran won her third consecutive Class 3A title, Butler senior C.J. Singleton became the school’s first runner to win a state title in 60 years, the...
Franklin Regional grad, baseball standout Kegerreis commits to Delaware
Louie Kegerreis talked about taking a gap year to get ready to play at the highest level of college baseball possible. Turns out, he didn’t need it. The only reference to gap with this kid now might be the extra-base hits he delivers at the next level. Kegerreis, a recent...
George Guido: Nearly 18,000 fans watched Ken High win a defacto WPIAL title game
Imagine a WPIAL regular-season game drawing 17,967 fans and that same game turning into a de facto championship game more than a week later. That’s what happened in 1946 when undefeated New Kensington and Vandergrift squared off Nov. 1 at Forbes Field. Interest in the game was so widespread that...
Freshman’s OT goal lifts Avonworth past North Catholic in classic WPIAL girls soccer final
After splitting two regular season meetings and playing evenly through 80 minutes of regulation, it was going to take something special to separate Avonworth and North Catholic. Freshman midfielder Fiona Mahan produced the winning moment for Avonworth in the 101st minute, scoring with a driven shot that got just under...
