Girls volleyball quarters, field hockey finals share Tuesday WPIAL spotlight

By: Don Rebel
Monday, October 28, 2019 | 11:59 PM

If the four higher seeds in the WPIAL Class AA girls volleyball quarterfinals set for Tuesday are all victorious, that will set up a less-than-fresh final four for Thursday.

Defending champion and top seed North Catholic faces Ellwood City, No. 2 seed Freeport takes on Hopewell, No. 3 seed Frazier goes up against Avonworth, and No. 4 seed Serra Catholic squares off with Beaver.

If the top four win, that sets up the same semifinals matches this year as last year but on the opposite sides of the bracket.

A year ago in the final four in AA, then No. 1-seed Freeport was upset by Frazier, 3-1, while No. 2 seed North Catholic swept past Serra Catholic, 3-0.

Class A familiar faces

Half of the girls volleyball Class A quarterfinals matches Tuesday are battles between section rivals.

Defending champion Bishop Canevin goes up against Section 3 rival Brentwood in a second-round match. The Crusaders were a perfect 14-0 in section play, including two wins over the third-place Spartans.

The other contest featuring section rivals is a matchup of Section 2 co-champions with Geibel Catholic facing Carmichaels. The Gators and Mighty Mikes split their two regular season matches with each team winning at home.

The other two Class A second-round matches are Greensburg Central Catholic against Shenango and Vincentian Academy vs. Fort Cherry.

The beat goes on

The Ellis School and Shady Side Academy have dominated the WPIAL’s smallest classification in field hockey.

The two have combined for the last 14 district crowns with Ellis winning six and Shady Side Academy claiming eight titles, including last year’s championship.

The Tigers and Indians will square off in the 2019 Class A field hockey finals on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Fox Chapel.

In the WPIAL Class AA title match that follows, Penn-Trafford looks to continue its golden run when they go up against Latrobe. The Warriors have won three straight AA championships.

Both matches can be heard here at TribHSSN.TribLive.com

Tags: Avonworth, Beaver, Bishop Canevin, Brentwood, Carmichaels, Ellis School, Ellwood City, Frazier, Freeport, Geibel, Hopewell, Latrobe, North Catholic, Penn-Trafford, Serra Catholic, Shady Side Academy