Sports
Fox Chapel and Quaker Valley Duo’s Win WPIAL Girls Doubles Tennis Titles
October 7, 2015
Senior Laurel Shymansky is certainly not shy about winning district doubles titles. Shymansky and Fox Chapel partner Amanda Nord won in straight sets Wednesday afternoon at North Allegheny to repeat as WPIAL Class AA Girls Doubles Tennis champions. This marks the third straight year Shymansky captured gold, winning two years ago along with Foxes teammate Lacey Cohen. In the Class AA Finals, the Quaker Valley duo of Zoe Bojalad & Emily Kraus were straight set winners over Ania Luckiewicz & Angelica Arshoun of Vincentian Academy, who had to finish their suspended Semifinals match prior to the Finals. This marks Bojalad's second straight WPIAL doubles crown after winning last year with her sister Farrah.Three Football Players Suspended After Monessen-Wilkinsburg Fight
After meeting with school officials from both Monessen and Wilkinsburg along with game officials on Tuesday, the WPIAL has ordered that two Wilkinsburg players and one Monessen player be suspended by the schools for at least two games, or else the two programs could be suspended by the WPIAL. This edict came down Wednesday morning following a fight Saturday between players from both teams that led to the football game being stopped in the third quarter with Monessen leading at historic Graham Field in Wilkinsburg. The identity of all three players was not revealed. The WPIAL does not have the authority to suspend the players, so they have asked the schools to do it or else they risk having their season suspended by the WPIAL.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Boys Soccer – 10/07/2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL boys soccer rankings for the week of October 5th...including another NEW #1 team in Class AAA. You can check out the new rankings every Wednesday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer Playoffs and the check out the Pro Grass Boys and Girls Soccer Player of the Month in September, October and November ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL BOYS SOCCER CLASS AAA: 1) FOX CHAPEL FOXES (12-0-0) (Last Week #2)Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Bishop Canevin Crusaders – 10/07/2015
In a highly anticipated and dramatic contest, Serra Catholic and Bishop Canevin once again faced each other atop the hard court. To recent memory over the past few seasons, it had been the home Crusaders who have dominated play over the Eagles, but Monday was a different story. Serra Catholic won this matchup on BC’s home floor in just four games. Both teams came in at 6-1 overall in the section. Serra’s only loss prior to this had been Bishop Canevin early on this season. Canevin on the other hand had seen itself lose the game prior to this one at Vincentian and could not find a way to rebound from that tonight.WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Five 2015
October 6, 2015
While the first four weeks of the 2015 season were filled with fantastic finishes, dramatic comebacks and upsets galore, lopsided affairs and powerhouse teams asserting their dominance proved prevalent in the fifth week of the campaign. Still, the top plays of the week are not short on excitement or drama, as they include a game-changing run seconds before halftime, the lone score in a defensive battle, and a pair of touchdowns scored by defense and special teams. Here's what made the cut in week five. 1. West Allegheny 47, Montour 14Marissa Balish and Olivia Zambruno Win WPIAL Girls Golf
Olivia Zambruno of Greensburg Central Catholic repeated as WPIAL Class AA champ while Marissa Balish of Hampton captured gold in Class AAA Tuesday afternoon at the Rolling Hills Country Club in McMurray. Both won in convincing fashion with with Balish shooting at 1-over par 73 and winning by three strokes while Zambruno shot a 3-over par 75 to win by five strokes. It was the first district crown for the senior Balish while the junior Zambruno won for a second straight year. Balish is a member of the Talbots boys golf team since the girls do not have a team at Hampton. Zambruno did the same thing last year for the Centurions, but this year, a girls team was added at Greensburg Central Catholic.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Girls Soccer – 10/06/2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL girls soccer rankings for the week of October 5th. You can check out the new rankings every Tuesday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer Playoffs and the check out the Pro Grass Boys and Girls Soccer Player of the Month in September, October and November ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL GIRLS SOCCER CLASS AAA: 1) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS (12-0-0) (Last Week #1) 2) NORWIN KNIGHTS (13-0-0) (Last Week #2)Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Freeport Yellowjackets – 10/06/2015
Freeport Coach Tom Phillips was able to rally his Yellowjackets Monday night to a 3-0 non section victory over the visiting Derry Trojans.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 10/05/2015
October 5, 2015
Each and every Monday during the regular season, the MSA Sports Network will rank the Top Ten football teams in each classification. These are the rankings following Week Five of the 2015 WPIAL football season. WPIAL CLASS AAAA WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN: 1. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (5-0) (Last Week #1.....Week Six at Canon-McMillan on MSA) 2. PENN-TRAFFORD WARRIORS (5-0) (Last Week #2.....Week Six host Hempfield on MSA) 3. PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (5-0) (Last Week #3.....Week Six host #9 Seneca Valley)
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Natalie Cignetti
The WPIAL Alum Q&A puts the spotlight on former Indiana High School and current IUP volleyball star Natalie Cignetti in this installment. Cignetti, an outside hitter, earned all-state honors during her time with the Little Indians. As a senior in 2013, she helped lead Indiana to the top seed in the Class AA playoffs. In that postseason, the Little Indians finished as runners-up, and won a state playoff match, as well. Following her high school career, Cignetti joined the Crimson Hawks at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where her father, Curt, serves as the head football coach.PIHL Notebook – Class AAA Preview
Welcome to “PIHL Notebook” and our annual season preview. Over the next four Monday’s, we will provide thumbnail sketches of all 57 PIHL teams to make sure local high school hockey fans are ready when the puck drops Monday night! And as we did last year, we will provide exclusive audio and video coverage of the “PIHL Premiere” at the brand new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. Do not miss this special event before our regular hockey coverage picks up in December. Faceoff times are 6:00 for North Hills and Mars in Class AA, followed at 8:00 by North Allegheny and Pine-Richland in Class AAA.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/04/2015
October 4, 2015
The first full week of October is a busy one with a full plate of fall sports along with a side dish of winter high school sports action this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Six of the high school football season with 30 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.2015 WPIAL & Pittsburgh City League Standings – Week 5
Here are the latest WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through Week Five of the 2015 high school football season...including the latest WPIAL Playoff clinchings and eliminations. Once again this year, we have added points for, point against and the updated WPIAL tiebreaker points for all 123 teams. Standings are updated after Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Standings can be also seen on each teams football webpage here on the MSA Sports Network. (Top 5 teams from AAAA and AAA conferences qualify for playoffs plus a sixth place wild card team) (Top 4 teams from AA and A conferences qualify for the playoffs)WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week Five
Weather wise it was a good day for a light WPIAL football schedule on Saturday with nasty wet and windy conditions for the three scheduled Class A games. Speaking of nasty, it was more like 2 1/2 games played as the Monessen at Wilkinsburg game was stopped midway through the third quarter because of a shoving match that escalated into a fight between the two teams. Without having seen the incident, there is no rush to judgment except to say anytime a high school game is stopped early, it is not good. Frank Antuono - NeshannockDistrict College Football Recap for Saturday, October 3rd
The first Saturday in October brought cold and wet weather to Western Pennsylvania. On a day not fit for man or beast….or golfers, it didn’t bother the area football teams and offenses in general in putting up points. A top 25 showdown highlighted play in the PAC, while 3 local teams remain tied after 2 weeks in the PSAC West. Here are recaps of ALL THE GAMES. Clarion 41 – Mercyhurst 27 Connor Simmons threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 more as the Golden Eagles go to 5-0. Simmons threw for 431 yards as Clarion scored 17 unanswered points in the second half.WPIAL Saturday Football Scores – 10/03/2015
October 3, 2015
It looked like Week Five was going to conclude with Hurricane Joaquin being the true winner earlier this week. However the storm stayed east and even though the small three game schedule had to deal with the elements, it was a far cry from what could have been. We are now officially more than halfway through the 2015 regular season with five weeks down and four still to come. Here are all three results from a wet and chilly Saturday afternoon in Class A. WPIAL CLASS A Eastern Conference: Monessen Greyhounds 18 - Wilkinsburg Tigers 0 Clairton Bears 54 - Riverview Raiders 6 WPIAL CLASS A Big 7 Conference: Neshannock Lancers 36 - Western Beaver Golden Beavers 8WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Five 2015
A little precipitation in the area before the real wet stuff driven by Hurricane Joaquin Andujar (look it up kids)...no problem. Temperatures dipping into the low 50's with winds that made it feel more like the 40's...again, no problem. Defenses geared to...wait, I'll just stop there. In this wild and crazy season of video game like play on the field resulting in huge points here, there and everywhere, top performances around the WPIAL on a Friday night are no longer hard to find. They are now just difficult to whittle down. Doing our best Jed Clampett imitation (look it up kids), we have whittled down some of the top outputs to these ten. Philip Jurkovec - Pine-RichlandScholastic Notebook – 10/02/2015
October 2, 2015
Anthony Welsh of Bethlehem-Center will likely run his way into the WPIAL record books Friday night. Welsh, a senior, needs only 62 yards rushing to reach 4,000 for his career. He would become the 63rd player in WPIAL history to reach 4,000 yards. With that in mind, here are some factoids about the 4,000-yard milestone: * The first player known to reach 4,000 yards was Jerry Patterson of Chartiers-Houston, who graduated in 1970 with 4,075 yards. * Welsh would be the second Beth-Center runner to reach 4,000. Keith Miller, a 1997 graduate, ran for 5,121.WPIAL/City League Friday Football Scores – 10/02/2015
We hit the midway point of the 2015 WPIAL football regular season. Four weeks in the books right now and four weeks still to come after this weekend. Some of the first half surprises include Pine-Richland, Chartiers Valley, Hollidaysburg, Deer Lakes, Shenango and Frazier enter this weekend with a combined record of 21-3. Some of the above teams had higher expectations then others, but all have put themselves in position to win a conference championship and perhaps more. Time will tell as we run down another slate of Friday night football games around the WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League. Check out all of the final results. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Northern Eight Conference: Pine-Richland Rams 47 - North Hills Indians 7 (F)Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers – 10/01/2015
October 1, 2015
After beating Fort Cherry earlier in the week 3-2 in a battle for first place in Section 6-A, the Buccaneers held off a spirited challenge at home against 3rd place Beth-Center, defeating the Bulldogs 3-2 in a match in which 4 of the 5 games went to extra points. Chartiers-Houston won the match by games scores of (28-26, 27-29, 25-21, 26-24, 16-14) overcoming some sloppy play and unforced errors to remain perfect in section play at (7-0). With all five games back-and-forth affairs, it’s no surprise that the night featured 40 tie scores between these two squads. Game 4, with the Buccaneers winning by four points, featured just 2 ties with Chartiers-Houston breaking a 2-2 deadlock with a 4-point run that led to a win in which they never trailed after the early tie.
