North Allegheny, Shaler Capture Titles at 2025 WPIAL Boys’ Volleyball Championships

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) hosted its championship games for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Volleyball Championships last Saturday at AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School. After two championship matches, Shaler completed a three-peat by winning the Class 2A title, while North Allegheny added another trophy to its record haul in Class 3A.
 
North Allegheny extended its league record of WPIAL boys’ volleyball championships with its 23rd, which is nine more than second-place Homestead. The Tigers have won in 1985, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and now 2025.
 
Shaler has now won three consecutive WPIAL boys’ volleyball titles, winning the first two over the Tigers in Class 3A. The Titans are the 12th different school to win at least three championships, joining Mt. Lebanon, Plum, and Swissvale at that exact number.
 
With its Class 3A win, North Allegheny swept the WPIAL boys’ and girls’ volleyball championships in 2024-25 – marking the 13th different time that has happened. The Tigers have now accomplished the feat eight times (1993-94, 2008-09, 2013-14, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2024-25), with Baldwin (1995-96), Farrell (1985-86), Mt. Lebanon (1997-98, 2000-01), and North Catholic (2022-23) being the other schools complete the sweep.
 
The top three teams in both Class 2A and Class 3A have qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Boys’ Volleyball Championships, which begin Tuesday, June 3 and conclude with all championship games on Saturday, June 14 at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University.
 
CLASS 3A RECAP
After dropping the first set, top-seeded North Allegheny bounced back with wins in the next three frames, capturing the Class 3A title with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-18) victory over second-seeded Seneca Valley this past Saturday.
 
North Allegheny (15-1, 7-1 Section III) hit .262 offensively compared to the .205 mark from Seneca Valley (14-4, 6-2 Section III), and had six service aces to the Raiders’ three. The Tigers also led in digs, 49-45, but Seneca Valley owned a 12.0-to-10.0 edge in blocks.
 
North Allegheny was led offensively by xxx Will Robertson, who recorded a team-high 17 kills on a .375 hitting percentage, and added seven digs and four block assists. Xxx Brendan Moore matched Robertson in digs and blocks while providing 10 kills at a .240 clip. Setters Jackson Failla and Elliott Swierczysnki combined for 41 of the team’s 45 assists, respectively tallying 25 and 16. Xxx Matthew LaMay served five of the Tigers’ six aces, Xxx libero Emmett Morris paced all players with 17 digs, and xxx Dominic Laswell had a team-high five block assists.
 
Xxx Jordan Hoover had a team-high 17 kills at a .382 clip and six blocks (1 solo, 5 assist) for Seneca Valley. Xxx setter Abheek Nelikil nearly posted a double-double, tallying 36 assists, nine digs, and five block assists. Xxx libero Mario Ardolino and xxx Malachi DeGraaf recorded 12 and 11 digs, respectively, with DeGraaf adding eight kills and four block assists.
 
The Tigers opened the WPIAL Championships with a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Mt. Lebanon, then qualified for their eighth straight championship game with a 3-0 sweep of fifth-seeded Pine-Richland. Seneca Valley made it an all-Section III affair with a 3-0 win over seventh-seeded Canon-McMillan in the quarterfinals, and a 3-2 triumph against sixth-seeded Penn-Trafford in the semifinals.
 
Penn-Trafford earned the final PIAA qualifier spot with a 3-1 win over Pine-Richland in the third-place consolation match played last Friday at Gateway High School.
 
North Allegheny begins PIAA Championships play at home against the District III fifth-place team, while Seneca Valley will get the District III runner-up, and Penn-Trafford faces either the District VI, District VIII, or District X champion. The Tigers are the only school of the three to previously win a PIAA title, leading the WPIAL with nine, with its last coming in 2022.
 
CLASS 2A RECAP
Top-seeded Shaler continued its recent dominance of WPIAL boys’ volleyball, winning its third straight championship with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) sweep of second-seeded Ambridge this past Saturday in the Class 2A championship match.
 
Shaler (16-1, 8-0 Section II) hit an eye-popping .356 offensively and held Ambridge (15-2, 9-1 Section IV) to an .056 hitting percentage defensively. The Titans also had 42 digs to the Bridgers’ 26, and posted 7.0 blocks to the second seed’s 4.5.
 
Two Shaler players reached double-figure kills with xxx Nate Myers recording 13 on a .471 clip and xxx Adam Hoffman with 10 on a .769 hitting percentage. Xxx setter Aiden Smith dished out 28 assists to go along with four digs and three block assists, and xxx Justin Truong and xxx Jacob Crissman collected 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Xxx Brandon Aryee led all players with four blocks (1 solo, 3 assist).
 
Ambridge saw xxx Karson Merlina lead all players with 18 kills, while xxx setter Adrien Rotondo recorded 22 assists. Xxx libero Nickolas Henry and xxx Nathan Sheffield netted eight and seven digs, respectively, with Sheffield adding a pair of block assists.
 
Shaler made it to the championship match with a 3-0 win over ninth-seeded Hopewell in the quarterfinals, and a 3-0 sweep of fifth-seeded South Fayette in the semifinals. Ambridge was a 3-1 winner against seventh-seeded Thomas Jefferson to open the tournament, and defeated sixth-seeded Mars in the semifinals, 3-2.
 
In the third-place consolation match played last Friday at Gateway High School, South Fayette topped Mars, 3-1, for the final PIAA qualifier spot.
 
Shaler starts PIAA Championships play at home against the District X runner-up, Ambridge will play the District VIII champion, and South Fayette gets the District X champion. The Titans and Bridgers have both won PIAA titles in their histories, with Shaler serving as the reigning Class 3A champion and Ambridge claiming Class 2A in 2009.
 
PIAA PREVIEW
Start Date: Tuesday, June 3
Number of Champions from WPIAL: 33 (31 in Class 3A, 2 in Class 2A)
– Previous Champions: North Allegheny (9), Homestead (7), Monessen (4), Penn Hills (4), Derry (3), Deer Lakes (2), Munhall (1), Ambridge (1), Plum (1), Shaler (1)
Last Class 3A PIAA Champion from WPIAL: Shaler (2024)
Last Class 2A PIAA Champion from WPIAL: Deer Lakes (2011)
 
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