Tigers Bounce Big Macs For 5th WPIAL Title in 7 Years
The North Allegheny girls’ volleyball team won the WPIAL Class 4A championship for the fifth time in the last seven years with a 3-1 triumph over the Canon-McMillan Big Macs on Saturday night at the AHN Arena at Peters Township High School. The Tigers claimed the title by set scores of 25-21, 13-25, 25-13 and 25-23.
Battle tested from playing a rugged schedule in Section 1-4A, North Allegheny’s ability to remain stoic in crucial situations and percevere under adversity was apparent from the very first set. The Tigers trailed 6-1 and 18-12 to the Big Macs to start the night, but senior Avery Butcher‘s serves helped NA go on a 7-0 run to take a 19-18 lead. Aided by timely kills from seniors Jamie Frisco and Kyra Schmidt, the Tigers rallied for a 25-21 victory.
Canon- McMillan, appearing in the WPIAL championship for the first time since upsetting North Allegheny in the 2019 finals, was hoping to once again stun the black and gold. Sophomore Natalie Carr, who tallied a game-high 18 kills, and junior Abby Tucker, who posted 13 kills, spearheaded a big second set for the Big Macs. CM jumped out to leads of 10-1 and 13-2 en route to a 25-13 win.
North Allegheny responded in kind in the third set by grabbing a 12-3 lead and cruising to a 25-13 win. The Tigers received contributions from freshman Alicia Mokube on the front line with three blocks and senior Marin Dunaway powered the offense with three of her 11 kills on the night in game three.
Similar to the start of the night in set one, North Allegheny found themselves down several times and trailed 23-21. With the Big Macs seemingly poised to force a fifth set, the unflappable Tigers rallied back as senior Jordan Frisco served out with a 4-0 run and propelled NA to a 25-23 victory and captured a ninth WPIAL championship overall.
Dunaway and Schmidt led the offense with 11 kills each. Butcher paced the defense with 14 digs, followed by Schmidt with 10 digs. Freshman Molly Robertson and junior Mack Jones dished out 19 and 16 assists, respectively. Schmidt led the team with three service aces. For a look at the WPIAL game stats, click here.
The NA seniors were named the Wright Automotive Players of the Match.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 16-1 overall, while Canon-McMillan drops to 15-4. Both teams qualify for the PIAA playoffs beginning on Tuesday.
Girls Volleyball Summary vs. Canon-McMillan, 11-4-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Canon-McMillan | 21 | 25 | 13 | 23 | 1 |
| North Allegheny | 25 | 13 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
