2025-2026 News
Claire Bacu, Will Robertson Named North Allegheny Athletes of the Year
By: Jared Barton
North Allegheny Athletics has named the female and male Athletes of the Year as the 2025-26 campaign winds down.
Seniors Claire Bacu and Will Robertson each took home the honor on Wednesday.
Bacu is a four-year swimming All-American and was also a two-year Scholastic All-American. She is a 15-time WPIAL medalist with six gold medals and a 13-time PIAA medalist with two individual golds at the state level. Bacu holds the varsity team and pool record in the 500 free and the pool record in the 200 free relay. The 2025 MVP was a key member of four WPIAL Team and two PIAA Team Championships. She recently won the WPIAL James Collins Scholar Athlete Award and UBO Georgia Thomas Scholarship. Bacu holds a 4.54 GPA while belonging to the National Honor Society, Key Club and Student Council. She will be attending Brown University to study Biology and Pre-Med.
Robertson is a multi-sport athlete, competing in both volleyball and basketball. He was a multi-year member of the varsity basketball team in the winter while with the Tigers. Robertson has carved out one of the more prolific volleyball careers in NA history. He is a multi-time all-state, all-WPIAL, all-area and all-section team member over his four years with the varsity squad. He was named Post-Gazette Player of the Year in 2025. Robertson eclipsed over 1,000 career kills earlier this season. So far in 2026, the senior was an all-section and all-WPIAL selection, while being named the WPIAL Most Valuable Player. He has been a member of two WPIAL Championship teams, including this season. Robertson is set to attend Penn State in the fall.
Congratulations to both award recipients, and good luck with your future endeavors!
Seven Tigers Named To All-WPIAL Team
By: Jared Barton
Fresh off the 24th WPIAL Championship in program history, seven members of the North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team were named All-WPIAL on Monday.
Four players were named to the first team, including seniors Peter Bratich, Nathan May, Brendan Moore and Will Robertson. Seniors Jackson Failla, Emmett Morris and Elliot Swierczynski were named to the second team. Robertson was also named the Most Valuable Player for WPIAL AAA.
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All of these players were named to the All-Section Team in recent weeks.
Robertson and Bratich were both first-team All-WPIAL members last season, while Moore was a third-team selection in 2025. Failla was a second-team selection last year as well.
North Allegheny remains undefeated in league play at 13-0 and has yet to drop a set in any of those matchups. The Tigers are also ranked first in Pennsylvania and 16th in the nation according to USA Today. The team is coming off a 3-0 win over section foe Butler in the WPIAL Championship last Wednesday from AHN Arena at Peters Township High School.
NA awaits news on the opening round matchup in the PIAA Tournament, which begins June 2nd. Matchups, sites and times are yet to be determined.
Nine Tigers Named WPIAL Boys Volleyball All-Section
By: Jared Barton
Nine members of the North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team earned WPIAL All-Section laurels this week ahead of their first playoff game Thursday.
Five Tigers were named to the first team, with two named to the second and third teams.
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Garnering first-team honors included seniors Peter Bratich, Nathan May, Brendan Moore, Emmitt Morris and Will Robertson.
Seniors Jackson Failla and Elliot Swierczynski were named to the second team, with senior Nicholas Di Prato and junior Aaron Starck named to the third team.
North Allegheny is a perfect 10-0 in league play this season, and has yet to drop a set in those games. The Tigers have also taken 1st place in multiple tournaments, including the NA Invitational, the York Invitational, the State College Invitational and the Shaler Invitational.
As the top seed in the WPIAL Boys’ Volleyball 3A bracket, NA will host #8 Peters Township on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. from UPMC Court. The Indians defeated #9 Norwin 3-2 in the WPIAL first-round matchup on Tuesday.
The North Allegheny Sports Network will provide a free audio broadcast of the WPIAL Quarterfinal matchup.
Boys’ Volleyball Ranked 17th Nationally
By: Jared Barton
The North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team has had a great start to the 2026 campaign and has been recognized nationally for its success.
The Tigers are ranked 17th in the nation according to USA TODAY Sports and the AVCA boys volleyball Super 25 rankings. The new ranking has them up two spots from the previous release.
North Allegheny is undefeated in WPIAL play to date with a 6-0 record. The team has not lost a set in league play so far.
NA has finished in first place in the NA Invitational and the perennially challenging Koller Classic at Central York High School.
The Tigers also had a third-place finish at the First Point National High School Volleyball Tournament in Austin, Texas. NA was tripped up in the semifinals against Windward (CA) 26-24, 25-22, but bounced back in the bronze medal match to beat Shadow Ridge 25-22, 26-24 in the third-place match.
North Allegheny has just four more section matches left before the State College Invitational and Shaler Invitational in early May. Postseason play begins following the last two tournaments.
The Tigers face Moon on the road Tuesday before returning home for a match with Butler Thursday at 4:45 p.m. That match will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
North Allegheny Athletics Spring Recap E-Publication
Click here for the North Allegheny Spring Recap E-Publication.
