NA advances to WPIAL Championship for 8th straight season
North Allegheny traveled to AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School to take on No. 4 Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL Semifinals on Wednesday night. Just like the regular season, it took five sets to decide a winner, and it was once again the Tigers coming out on top, winning by set scores of 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25 and 15-11.
Things were tight in the first set as no one could gain any separation until North Allegheny got leads of 10-7 and 12-9. With the Tigers leading 22-21, NA got the final three points of the set, which was finished off by a Mack Jones block, and North Allegheny won the first set 25-21.
The Tigers stormed out of the gates in the second set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Keely McMahon-Regan was a big part of why NA jumped out to a big lead, getting two kills and an ace in the first six points. Upper St. Clair fought back to get it as close as 23-18, but Molly Robertson got the set-clinching kill, and North Allegheny had a 2-0 lead after winning the second set 25-19.
Set three looked eerily similar as NA had a 4-1 lead, but the Panthers didn’t let this one get too out of hand as they took the lead back at 10-9. USC would grow the lead to its largest point at 17-11 and take the third set, 25-19. The fourth set was very evenly played. It looked like the Tigers might be able to pull away after Robertson scored back-to-back points on a kill and ace to give NA the 18-13 lead. There was no give-up in the Panthers, who fought back again to win the set 25-22 and force a fifth and final set.
In the fifth set, no one had a two-point lead until North Allegheny took a 10-8 lead. Upper St. Clair would tie the set at 10-10 before NA went on a 5-1 run to finish off the set and match with back-to-back kills by Robertson.
The Tigers served well throughout the match as Reagan Riordan had three aces while Anna Bridges and Macey Casten had two. Riordan and Casten were also great defensively, with 26 and 25 digs, respectively. Casten also had five kills. Robertson led the Tigers offensively with 28 kills and helped on the back line with 13 digs. For her efforts, Robertson was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Alicia Mokube added seven kills and four blocks at the net. Jones scored five kills, 15 assists and 13 digs. Bridgit Murphy also had five kills. McMahon-Regan dished out 27 assists and had three blocks.
North Allegheny advances to the WPIAL Championship for the eighth straight season. They will take on third-seeded North Catholic back at AHN Arena at Peters Township High School on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. The teams split the regular season series. This game will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Girls Volleyball Summary vs. Upper St. Clair, 10-30-24
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper St. Clair | 21 | 19 | 25 | 25 | 11 | 2 |
| North Allegheny | 25 | 25 | 19 | 22 | 15 | 3 |
