Gateway programs excited to test new sections

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 21, 2018 | 9:18 PM

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It wasn't quite like Christmas morning, but it wasn't far off when Gateway junior Bella Giunta darted into girls volleyball coach Phil Randolph's classroom between periods last Wednesday afternoon with urgent news.

“She burst in with a wave of excitement,” said Randolph, who just finished his first season as the Gators coach. “She burst in and said, ‘You have to see this.' It was an absolute, pure, raw and an unfiltered response (from her).”

The big news Giunta, who is expected to challenge for the starting libero spot next season, couldn't wait to share was the WPIAL released the section realignments for the next two years.

Randolph wasn't taken aback as much by the new look of Section 1-3A as by Giunta's enthusiasm.

“My thoughts right away were, for me, it was a proud moment that this sport means so much to them in January, and they're thinking of volleyball already,” Randolph said.

There's good reason for Randolph and his Gators to feel optimistic about next season. He has five starters coming back from a team that earned its first postseason appearance since 2011 by finishing with an 8-4 section record. The Gators were a No. 16 seed and lost 3-0 in the first round to eventual Class 3A champion Knoch.

Section 1-AAA will look extremely different next season. First and foremost, the section will drop from eight teams to seven.

Second, of those seven, only three teams (Gateway, Indiana, Greensburg Salem) remain from the 2017-18 section schedule. The other four teams (Armstrong, Franklin Regional, Kiski Area and Woodland Hills) drop from Class 4A, including last season's runner-up, Armstrong. But while all that sounds daunting, only Armstrong qualified for the playoffs last season.

Section foes Indiana and Greensburg Salem reached the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

“Knowing how talented those rosters are, we certainly have our work cut out for us,” Randolph said. “Nothing is gonna come easy, and I know that the girls that are coming back for me aren't allergic to hard work.”

Things remain mostly unchanged for the defending WPIAL Class 5A champ Gateway football team. Though Class 5A bumped from 18 to 24 teams and grew from two to three conferences, the Gators have long relationships with six of the of the eight teams in their yet-to-be-named conference.

“First and foremost, we knew it was going to be interesting and everyone was interested with what was going to happen with teams coming down and teams going up,” said Gateway coach Don Holl, who will enter his third season next fall. “We really thought 5A was a strong setup, and when you take and add Bethel Park, Penn Hills and Shaler, and teams come up like Mars, (the conference alignments) made sense when you look at the (big picture).”

Gone from the conference schedule, but not Class 5A, are Armstrong and Kiski Area. Both slid over to Section 3 and will play North Hills, Fox Chapel, Mars and Hampton. The newcomer is Albert Gallatin, which moved up from Class 4A. Rivalries with McKeesport, Plum, Penn-Trafford, Latrobe, Franklin Regional and Connellsville remain intact for the next few years.

In boys soccer, Gateway remains in Section 4-3A. Class 3A grew from 25 to 29 teams and is broken into four sections. The Gators lose rival Franklin Regional, which moved up to Class 6A, and the rest of the section remains the same as the past two seasons.

The Gators girls soccer team will continue to reside in Section 1-3A, the largest of the four Class 3A sections with eight schools. The new section has a familiar feel to it with rivals Franklin Regional, Hampton, Indiana, Knoch and Mars, but two newcomers in Kiski Area and Armstrong make for quality additions.

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Gateway