Girls volleyball first round and girls soccer quarters highlight Thursday in WPIAL

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, October 24, 2019 | 12:23 AM

The WPIAL girls volleyball Class A championship has been a hot potato for most of this decade.

For a six-year stretch, Greensburg Central Catholic and Bishop Canevin alternated winning district gold with the Centurions winning in the even years of 2012, 2014 and 2016 while the Crusaders won it all in the odd years of 2013, 2015 and 2017.

That alternating run ended last fall when Bishop Canevin became only the third team to repeat as Class A girls volleyball champs.

Geibel and Beaver County Christian are the only other schools to win a district crown of the eight Class A teams left in this year’s postseason tournament.

Bishop Canevin opens up defense of its title Thursday at home against Riverview while Greensburg Central Catholic opens up against Western Beaver.

AA volleyball openers

As we close out this decade, the gold won in Class AA girls volleyball has had a yellow tint to it.

The Freeport Yellowjackets won four district titles since 2010, including back-to-back crowns in 2015 and 2016.

This year’s Freeport team is the No. 2 seed and opens up the postseason at home on Thursday against South Park.

Beaver and Hopewell each won a WPIAL AA championship this past decade. The Bobcats captured their title in 2017 and the Vikings in 2011.

Hopewell faces Derry and Beaver goes up against Deer Lakes on Thursday.

Girls soccer quarters

The second round of the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs will take place Thursday with 16 matches.

Three Class AAAA and three Class AA teams will be making their postseason debuts after receiving first-round byes.

North Allegheny, Norwin, Peters Township, South Park and Hopewell not only bypassed the opening round, but they will now host quarterfinals matches.

North Catholic is the only team that enjoyed a bye and opens up at a neutral site.

One interesting matchup is a Class AAA contest as Hampton faces Plum. Both the Talbots and Mustangs advanced to Round 2 by scoring seven goals in first-round wins.