The North Allegheny boys volleyball program has won 24 WPIAL championships, 11 more than any other active school. Now turning their attention to the PIAA Class 3A championship, the Tigers seek one for the other thumb.
North Allegheny plays Landisville Hempfield on Saturday, looking to win its 10th state title at 1:30 p.m. in Penn State’s Rec Hall.
After winning the WPIAL championship in May, North Allegheny swept District 3 fifth-place finisher Central York, District 6 champion State College and WPIAL runner-up Butler to reach the PIAA final, preserving the opportunity to win every set in match play this year.
“I’d say there’s been a couple times where we’ve had to come back,” senior outside hitter Brendan Moore said. “We’re trying and, ultimately, pushing to not lose a set. … And there’s been games where it’s been close, so just our camaraderie and the way we are able to come back together as a team and not drop a set, I think that’s awesome.”
Hempfield had much more trouble battling through the eastern half of the state. The Black Knights defeated District 11 champion Emmaus and District 3 fifth-place finisher Central Dauphin in four sets before meeting District 3 champion Cumberland Valley in the semifinals.
Hempfield avenged its lone loss of the season to Cumberland Valley, knocking the defending PIAA champion out of the tournament in a five-set thriller (25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 22-25, 15-10). Despite losing more points than they won in the match, the Black Knights made it to Penn State.
“Hempfield stands out in terms of two individual players — a setter and outside hitter — that are really excellent, and they kind of command a lot of the attention when you’re playing them,” North Allegheny coach Dan Long said. “It’s just awareness of where they are and what they’re capable of doing.”
Senior outside hitter Will Robertson is one of, if not the top, threats for the Tigers, surpassing 1,000 career kills during pool play of the Shaler Invitational in May before the WPIAL playoffs. Robertson became the third Tiger to surpass that milestone since 2006, joining Canyon Tuman, who reached 1,295 kills in 2018, and Tommy Keisling, who finished 2013 with 1,232 kills.
“I said to one of the assistant coaches partway through Set 3 (of the Butler match), ‘I think Will might be hitting 1,000,’ ” Long said. “I don’t know if that’s actually true, but it felt like any time he took a swing, he was finding fingertips or finding the floor.”
Along with Moore and Robertson, opposite hitter Nathan May and middle blocker Peter Bratich, also seniors, round out North Allegheny’s four first-team all-WPIAL players in the lineup.
“Those four guys have been really important offensive players for us. Brendan and Peter are both six-rotation guys. They’re all on the court all the time,” Long said. “Those are really important guys for us in terms of passing and defense and so forth.”
Long also highlighted senior setters Jackson Failla and Elliott Swierczynski and senior libero Emmett Morris, who received second-team all-WPIAL honors.
“There are guys that weren’t recognized because they weren’t in the ballot, that have kind of found their way to the place of being really significant,” Long said. “No. 9, Ethan Palmer, is a middle blocker who’s a sophomore who really has taken a jump over the course of the season and has asserted himself as a guy that has to be in the starting lineup. And he’s had moments where he’s been really dominant, so it’s hard to isolate (us).
“It’s not just like coachspeak. We do have a lot of depth and a lot of guys that can, on any given night, take over as the guy, which is a pretty special situation.”
The Tigers plan to make their lack of weaknesses their strength as they strive to renew the North Allegheny boys volleyball dynasty with another state championship, bouncing back from last season’s loss.
“We’ve definitely got to be locked in as soon as we get there. We have to realize the weight of the match before we’re actually standing on the court,” Moore said. “I think that’s something that we struggled with last year, just the nerves and the pressure once we actually get out under those lights on Rec Hall. So I think that if we can all be ready, locked in and know where we are headed and what needs to happen by the time we step onto that court, I feel like we’ll be in a world of good for us.”