Tigers Sweep Tornado, Advance To WPIAL Championship
By: Jared Barton
The North Allegheny boys’ volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 WPIAL semifinal victory over Butler at Fox Chapel Tuesday night. NA won by set scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 25-11.
Sophomore Peter Bratich took control over the first set, with four kills and a block. Senior Stone Gaertner also contributed three of his nine total kills in the frame. The Tigers also had three aces courtesy of seniors Nicolas Carioto and Ryan Quatman as well as sophomore Elliott Swierczynski.
After another solid start to set two, Butler crawled back and held a lead in the middle of the frame. Sophomore Brendan Moore registered three kills and a block, while fellow sophomore Will Robertson notched two kills and a block and senior Jeremiah Satcho had two blocks in the frame. Moore had the set-clinching kill to end the middle set.
NA took an early lead and never looked back in the third set, as junior Matthew LaMay took control as the server in the early stages and notched an ace. Senior Will Hahn also scored an ace along with a team-leading 21 digs. Seniors Sreeman Koka and Sam Kinzler tallied late kills to seal the deal for the Tigers. Sophomore Jackson Failla also had a kill in the set.
Hahn took home Wright Automotive Player of the Game laurels for his excellent performance throughout the match. Gaertner led the team with nine kills, Bratich led the team with three blocks and also had eight kills. Quatman and Carioto had 16 and 15 assists respectively.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 13-1 overall on the season and advance to the WPIAL Championship with a rematch against top-seeded Shaler from AHN Arena at Peters Township High School. The date and time of the match is to be determined. The North Allegheny Sports Network will provide live audio coverage of the match.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL SUMMARY VS. BUTLER, 5-21-24
| GAME SUMMARY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | FINAL |
| Butler | 13 | 22 | 11 | 0 |
| North Allegheny | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |