North Allegheny rallies past Seneca Valley to return to top of WPIAL 3A volleyball mountain

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 4:39 PM

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North Allegheny was back in its familiar position of favorite entering this year’s WPIAL boys volleyball playoffs.

That wasn’t necessarily the case last year when North Allegheny lost to Shaler in the 3A finals, but the Titans subsequently dropped down to Class 2A and the Tigers brought back a team loaded with plenty of talent.

This year, North Allegheny was the hunted once again.

“This was the year we were supposed to come through and win it, and it put some pressure on us, but it’s good to check that box,” North Allegheny coach Dan Long said after North Allegheny defeated Seneca Valley, 3-1, in the Class 3A championship match Saturday at Peters Township. “I’m so proud of the way we competed.”

It didn’t look like the top-seeded Tigers (15-1) would come away with the win after they were dominated by second-seeded Seneca Valley (14-4) in the first set Saturday, but North Allegheny rallied to win the next three sets and come away with the Class 3A title.

“It felt like we were a bit tight in the first set, and we weren’t playing like ourselves and couldn’t find our comfort level,” Long said.

Everything that went wrong for the Tigers went right for the Raiders, who took the first set 25-17.

“It was all jelling,” Seneca Valley coach Brett Poirier said. “When you’re siding out, blocking, hitting and everything is going well, you’re going to play well.”

The Raiders set the tone early, exactly how Poirier had hoped they would, but he knows taking a set doesn’t guarantee another.

“I’ve seen so many times where you win by seven or eight points, and you turn around and you lose the next set,” Poirier said. “The guys knew they had to get that second set. We set the tone with the first set, so could we set the tone and get that second set and really push them to go.”

Seneca Valley senior Jordan Hoover led the way in the first set with four kills and a pair of blocks. Malach DeGraaf added three kills, and Chase Crawford added a pair. Abheek Nelikil had two blocks for the Raiders.

The Tigers got a pair of kills from Elijah Braun and three kills from Will Robertson. Dominic Laswell had two blocks.

After the set, Long asked his players in the huddle if everything was good.

“The responses I got back were pretty encouraging,” Long said. “They were ready to kick the dust off.”

North Allegheny roared to life in the second set, taking a 7-6 lead and not relenting in a 25-15 win.

Braun had three kills and a block, Garen White chipped in two kills and a block and Robertson had two kills.

What really opened it up for the Tigers was their service game, specifically the final two serves from senior Matthew LaMay, who closed the set with two aces.

“The biggest thing was losing that bad in the first set to a team we’re supposed to beat. It was a wake-up call for us and shocked us into working a lot harder and reaching levels we hadn’t reached yet this year,” said LaMay, who finished with five aces.

Robertson led the team with 17 kills, Brendan Moore added 10 and Jackson Failla dished out 25 assists.

Libero Emmett Morris led the team with 17 digs, and Elliott Swierczynski had 16 assists.

North Allegheny knew there would be added pressure this year being the top team.

“It’s something were familiar with having to play the teams we did in our section,” Long said. “We constantly preach first to five and 21-21 situations. We don’t fear those situations. We relish them.”

The Tigers won sets three and four by scores of 25-20 and 25-18.

“We were hoping this was going to be our day, but it wasn’t. It was their day,” Poirier said. “We face each other more than any other teams during the year. We know each other well. We hope to see them in states.”

Nelikil led the Seneca with 36 assists, DeGraaf had 11 digs and eight kills and libero Mario Ardolino had 12 digs.

Hoover finished the day with 17 kills and six total blocks for the Raiders.

“He’s a big-time player,” Poirier said. “He’s as good offensively as he is defensively, and he had 130 blocks last year, which is unheard of. He will carry it on to the next level at Division II, and I wish him the best.”

For North Allegheny’s LaMay, who had been to the championship match the last two years and came away with losses, this win was very fulfilling.

“It’s unbelievably satisfying,” LaMay said. “To come here again and come away with the win is a big deal for me and my fellow seniors.”

Tags: North Allegheny, Seneca Valley