North Allegheny surges past Penn-Trafford to make another trip to WPIAL volleyball finals
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Monday, May 23, 2022 | 9:34 PM
North Allegheny’s Jack Birch (10) hits against Penn-Trafford’s Zach Kessler as NA’s Jake Koch (1) looks on during a WPIAL Class 3A semifinal Monday at Fox Chapel.
Penn-Trafford’s Patrick Schall blocks a shot by North Allegheny’s Jake Koch in a WPIAL Class 3A semifinal Monday at Fox Chapel.
Penn-Trafford’s Alex Rugh returns a shot during a WPIAL Class 3A semifinal Monday at Fox Chapel.
North Allegheny senior Caleb Schall (2) attempts to set Varun Kaveti (34) up for a kill against Penn-Trafford in a WPIAL Class 3A volleyball semifinal Monday at Fox Chapel.
It’s back to the WPIAL Class 3A boys volleyball finals for North Allegheny.
The second-seeded Tigers have won 21 titles, including 15 of the past 18 under coach Dan Schall.
They will go after No. 22 Wednesday at Robert Morris after defeating No. 6 Penn-Trafford, 3-0, by scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 25-22.
They will face No. 1 seed Seneca Valley, which they defeated in the 2021 finals.
Penn-Trafford was coming off a 3-2 upset of No. 3 Hempfield and was hoping to ride the momentum from that game.
“Early on we served well,” Schall said. “We were really hot. After that, we weren’t as sharp.”
The game featured a battle of coaching brothers and playing cousins. Jim Schall coached Penn-Trafford, and his son, Patrick, is a solid all-around player.
Dan Schall has coached North Allegheny for 19 seasons. His son, Caleb, was 2021 co-player of the year.
“The first game, their serving was the difference,” Jim Schall said. “They had a couple guys serving well. We knew it was going to be tough to score on them, but they had a few more serves and blocks that we did.”
Things evened out a little in Games 2 and 3. But each game the Tigers found a way to pull out the win.
“We have a lot of offensive weapons,” Dan Schall said. “We do a good job distributing the ball. This was a special win because it puts us back into the finals. You can’t take anything for granted.”
The North Allegheny coach also expected a tough battle from his brother’s team and knew they were playing well.
“They were coming off an emotional win, and we knew they were hot,” Dan Schall said. “They had nothing to lose, and I expected them to play at another level.”
Andrew Kessler (12 kills), Alex Rugh (8 kills), Patrick Schall (7 kills) and Carson Good were strong in all three games for the Warriors.
“We were a lot more competitive in Games 2 and 3,” Jim Schall said. “If we play like that against any other team, we’d probably win.
“They’re a great team. We just weren’t able to put together any scoring runs like we did in our other playoff games.”
Penn-Trafford will get the opportunity to qualify for the PIAA tournament against Shaler on Wednesday.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford
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