Breaking down changes to the 2023-24 WPIAL boys volleyball alignment

By: Bill Hartlep
Monday, August 8, 2022 | 9:29 AM

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The WPIAL released new section alignments for the next two-year cycle in all sports, and changes will be implemented starting this fall.

This summer, the Tribune-Review will break down changes for each of the WPIAL sports.

Here’s a look at the upcoming WPIAL boys volleyball season:

2022 WPIAL championships

Class 3A: North Allegheny

Class 2A: Montour

Notable changes

• A few teams will make some moves when the next WPIAL boys volleyball season commences in the spring.

Plum has bumped up to Class 3A and will join Section 3 with Central Catholic, Hempfield, Norwin, Penn Hills and Penn-Trafford.

Class 3A, though, dropped from 21 teams to 19, as Armstrong, Latrobe and South Fayette all moved down to Class 2A because of a decrease in enrollment.

Section 1 and 3 each have six teams, while Section 2 has seven.

• In Class 2A, Bishop Canevin moved from Section 3 to Section 1 to join WPIAL champion Montour, as well as runner-up OLSH and third-place finisher Ambridge, along with semifinalist North Catholic.

Armstrong and Latrobe will slot in with holdovers Deer Lakes, Derry, Gateway and Mars.

South Fayette will join Keystone Oaks, Seton LaSalle, South Park, Steel Valley, Thomas Jefferson and Trinity in Section 3.

In and out

• Summit Academy was listed in Section 2-2A the past two seasons but was not able to field a team either year. The program will not have a WPIAL schedule for this two-year cycle.

• South Park is returning to WPIAL play next spring and will be part of Section 3-2A. The Eagles were 0-10 in section play in 2018, their most recent season in the WPIAL. They won the Section 3-2A title with a 10-0 mark and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals in 2017.

Past champions

• North Allegheny captured its 22nd WPIAL championship in boys volleyball this past spring, which leads District 7. The Tigers have won the past five titles in Class 3A from 2016-22 (there was no season in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Others with five or more titles include Homestead (14), Penn Hills (13), Ambridge (10) and Coraopolis (6).

Key dates

March 6: First practice date

March 11: First scrimmage date

March 17: First play date

March 28: First section date

May 12: WPIAL committee meeting

May 23-25: WPIAL championships

June 10: PIAA championships

2023-24 alignment

Class 3A

Section 1: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Moon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair

Section 2: Butler, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler

Section 3: Central Catholic, Hempfield, Norwin, Penn Hills*, Penn-Trafford, Plum

Class 2A

Section 1: Ambridge, Beaver County Christian*, Bishop Canevin*, Hopewell*, Montour, North Catholic, OLSH*

Section 2: Armstrong, Deer Lakes, Derry, Gateway, Latrobe, Mars

Section 3: Keystone Oaks, Seton LaSalle, South Fayette, South Park, Steel Valley, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity

*Cooperative sponsorship

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.