Tigers Upended By Titans In WPIAL Championship
North Allegheny’s five-year reign as WPIAL champions came to an end on Thursday night with a 3-0 loss to Shaler at AHN Arena. The Tigers fell in the WPIAL Class 3A championship by set scores of 25-12, 25-22 and 25-19.
Appearing in the WPIAL title tilt for the first time in program history, the top-seeded Titans jumped out to a 6-0 lead in set one and cruised to a 25-12 win. Junior Logan Peterson belted out nine kills in the opening set, on his way to a game-high 25 kill performance.
Despite the loss in game one, the Tigers seemed poised to bounce back in set two and grabbed a 5-4 lead on a kill by senior Varun Kaveti. The one-point lead, however, was the first and only lead of the night for North Allegheny. Five kills in the set by Kaveti and four by junior Jeremiah Satcho kept the Tigers in the hunt, but in the end the Titans prevailed, 25-22. Kaveti totaled nine kills on the evening.
In set three, Shaler built a 19-9 lead before NA staged a late rally. Senior Jax Wilhite did his best to keep the Tigers afloat with four kills in the set and finished with a team-high 10 kills. However, Peterson continued to power the Titans with seven kills in the final set and Shaler earned the victory, 25-19, to complete the sweep.
Junior libero Will Hahn led the NA defense with 21 digs. Junior setter Nicolas Carioto distributed 27 assists.
With the loss, North Allegheny slips to 11-4 on the season, while Shaler improves to 16-1. Both teams qualify for the PIAA playoffs, which begin on Tuesday, June 6.
Boys Volleyball Summary vs. Shaler, 5-25-23
| GAME SUMMARY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 12 | 22 | 19 | 0 |
| Shaler | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |