Boys' Volleyball Game Summaries

The WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford Warriors earned a hard-fought 3-1 win over North Allegheny on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA playoffs. The Tigers and Warriors battled nip and tuck in every set, but PT managed to outlast NA by set scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-22. Penn-Trafford advances to the PIAA semifinals to face Penn Manor who defeated Bethel Park last night, 3-1.

In set one, North Allegheny opened with a quick 4-1 lead thanks in part to a kill and block by Jason Stiefvater. Penn-Trafford regained its footing and took a three-point lead of its own at 14-11 courtesy of senior Brendan O’Toole who notched three kills and a block. With additional contributions from junior Brandon McGowen, Penn-Trafford held off NA for 25-23 win. O’Toole had the finisher with a set-ending tip.

Similar to set one, the second set was another tightly contested affair. The Tigers trailed 22-21 before Eric Visgitis came through with a clutch kill to tie the score at 22-22. Junior Seth Russell followed with a kill to give NA a lead it would never relinquish for a 25-23 win.

Eric and Luke Visgitis continued its bombardment of the Warriors in the third set as NA built an 8-1 lead. Eric Visgitis totaled a team-high 16 kills and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Match by the North Allegheny Sports Network. Luke Visgitis notched 14 kills and a team-best six blocks.  Despite the big lead to open the set, Penn-Trafford battled back and claimed set three by a 25-22 margin. McGowen posted four kills in the set for the Warriors.

It was more of the same in the fourth set as both teams traded barbs and were deadlocked 22-22 in the later stages of the set. McGowen delivered a kill, his fifth of the set, to give Penn-Trafford a 23-22 advantage. Two NA errors finished the set and Penn-Trafford held on for a 25-22 set win for a 3-1 triumph.

Despite the loss, there were several terrific performances by the Tigers. Libero Danny Lebovitz notched a team-high 17 digs, followed by Russell and M.J. Barton who posted 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Barton, the NA setter, dished out 46 assists.

North Allegheny’s season ends with a 17-4 overall record. Penn-Trafford improves to 21-2 and will take on Penn Manor in the PIAA semifinals on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Congratulations to the North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team and coaching staff for another trip to the PIAA playoffs and an outstanding 2016 season.

Boys Volleyball Summary vs. Penn-Trafford, 6-4-16

The North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team rolled past the District 6 champion Altoona Mountain Lions on Wednesday evening, 3-0, in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs. The Tigers scratched by the Mountain Lions in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18.

North Allegheny was paced by the big swings of sophomore Jason Stiefvater who notched a team-high 12 kills. Junior Seth Russell tallied nine kills and junior Eric Visgitis added eight kills.

Stiefvater was also a force on defense with 10 digs, one behind libero Danny Lebovits and his team-best 11 digs. Junior Luke Visgitis clogged up the middle with a team-leading six blocks. Setter M.J. Barton doled out 29 assists.

North Allegheny improves to 17-3 overall with the win and advances to the PIAA quarterfinals for a meeting with the WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford Warriors. The quarterfinal match will be played at a site and time to be determined.

Boys Volleyball Summary vs. Altoona, 6-1-16

by Dave Floyd

With a berth in the PIAA playoffs on the line in the WPIAL Consolation Match, North Allegheny blanked Section 2-AAA rival Seneca Valley, 3-0, Thursday evening at Ambridge. The Tigers won by set scores of 25-22, 25-19 and 25-21.

NA now moves on to face the District 10 champion in the first round of states on Wednesday at a site and time yet to be determined.

Down 13-9 in the first set, the Tigers embarked on a 7-0 run behind the strong serving of senior Josh Shaw. Sophomore Canyon Tuman capped the run with a kill, and NA weathered an immediate response by the Raiders to lead for all but one point of the remainder of the set.

The Tigers used the momentum from that game one victory to control the vast majority of the final two sets. While NA never led by more than six points in either, it trailed on only two occasions en route to securing third place in the WPIAL.

Twin juniors Luke and Eric Visgitis led the way for the Tigers offensively. Luke had a team-high 11 kills with just one error, while Eric notched nine kills to go along with a pair of blocks. For their efforts, the two were named Co-Wright Automotive Players of the Game.

Defensively, junior Seth Russell tallied 11 digs to lead the Tigers. He also tacked on five kills. Classmate MJ Barton paced NA’s passing game with 31 assists.

Boys Volleyball Summary vs. Seneca Valley, 5-26-16

By: Michael Turk

After winning eight consecutive WPIAL titles from 2007-2014, North Allegheny fell short of the WPIAL finals for the second consecutive season. The Tigers, the ninth-ranked team in the state, dropped a 3-0 decision to the No. 2-ranked Bethel Park Black Hawks in the WPIAL semifinals on Thursday night at Baldwin high school.

When set one began, it looked like the crowd might be in for a five-set match. Sophomore, Jason Stiefvater, tallied a few early kills as well as teammate, Luke Visgitis. However, unforced errors and two double contact calls went against the Tigers who fell behind, 12-7.

“Tonight just wasn’t our night. We needed to come out with more energy. Tonight was just Bethel Park’s night, they played phenomenal. I think it’s a great learning experience because even though we are an inexperienced team, we could use this as fire for next season,” said Stiefvater, a sophomore outside hitter.

In mid-set, Dixon, senior at Bethel Park, went on a five-point serving run to pull away from NA. Bethel Park finished off set one with a Kapusta block and win by a final score of 25-14.

Bethel Park never surrendered the lead in set two as Dixon and Kapusta continued to control the game with their jump serves and powerful arms from the outside and back row. NA put some pressure on Bethel late in set two with a Stiefvater kill and Eric Visgitis block but it wasn’t enough as NA dropped set two, 25-19.

NA had their backs against the wall, as they had to win the next set to stay alive. The same things happened in set three that happened in the previous two sets. Kapusta and Dixon continued to control the entire match and NA continued to make service errors and get caught in the net. Bethel was able to sail through set three and complete the sweep by a final score of 25-15.

Although North Allegheny fell short of the finals, the future remains bright with a young a talented team in place for the 2016-17 season.

“This off-season we need to practice. We need to be on our A-game and we need to be sharp. We’re always going to keep that WPIAL title on our minds and always compete with our hardest strength and integrity,” said sophomore Canyon Tuman.

Now that the Tigers garnered some experience of playing in the playoffs, watch for them to come back even stronger next season. The majority of the starting line-up will return for the upcoming year.

“Work hard. That’s all I can say. Use it as fire and just work hard for next season,” commented Stiefvater about what needs to happen the get NA back on top.

Some final stats from the game for NA include Seth Russell leading the way in kills with eight, followed by Stiefvater with seven. Tuman and Stiefvater led the team in blocks with five apiece and Russell tallied a team-high nine digs.

North Allegheny will face off against Seneca Valley for a third-place match on Thursday night at Ambridge at 7:00 pm.

*Statistics provided by Pete Madia

The North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team defeated the Pine-Richland Rams on Thursday night, 3-1, in the WPIAL quarterfinals. The Tigers defeated their neighborhood rival by set scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-17.

The North Allegheny attack was paced by Seth Russell with a team-high 17 kills. In all, four Tigers finished in double figures in kills, including Eric Visgitis who posted 11 kills and Jason Stiefvater and Luke Visgitis who tallied 10 kills apiece. Defensively, Danny Lebovitz handled 27 digs and setter M.J. Barton was pinpoint with his passes for 54 assists.

North Allegheny improves to 15-2 on the season and will take on Bethel Park on Tuesday night in the WPIAL semifinals.