What to watch for in WPIAL sports for April 14, 2022: Key section volleyball matches on tap

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, April 14, 2022 | 9:35 AM

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Thursday marks another busy night of WPIAL boys volleyball as section play inches closer to the midway point of the regular season.

First place or a share of the section lead is at stake in three matches:

Perennial power Bethel Park (3-1) heads south on Route 19 to visit Canon-McMillan (4-0). The Big Macs have a one game lead in Section 1-3A.

In Section 3-3A, first place belongs at the moment to Norwin (4-0). However three teams are right on the heels of the Knights with 3-1 section records. One of them is Hempfield while the other two collide on Thursday when Penn-Trafford hosts Latrobe.

Finally in Class 2A, Gateway visits Derry for first place in Section 2. Both the Gators and Trojans are 2-0 in the section.

More baseball make-ups

There are a handful of WPIAL section baseball games postponed from earlier days either this week or last week that are slated for Thursday.

One of them is a rematch of the 2014 district Class A title game.

Eight years ago, undefeated California defeated Carmichaels, 6-1, giving the Titans their third baseball crown in a span of 14 years.

The game was played over two days after rained forced the contest to be suspended in the fourth inning.

Since the turn of the century, the Trojans have won five crowns while the Mighty Mikes are at three.

However, California is still in search of its first win of the season while Carmichaels is 2-0, including a 17-2 win over Cal last week.

Real deal?

On a sparse Thursday schedule of district section softball games, Ligonier Valley visits Serra Catholic with first place in Section 2-2A at stake.

Ligonier Valley is on top with a 3-0 record, a half-game ahead of Seton LaSalle (3-1).

Serra Catholic is a game back with a 2-1 mark.

The Eagles finished in third place last season, four games behind the section champion Rams.

Thursday may go a long way to show how good this Serra Catholic team is.

The Eagles won their first four games by a combined score of 51-3, but lost to Seton LaSalle in their most recent game, 5-0.

After a 1-2 start, Ligonier Valley has won three straight by a combined score of 29-3.

Tags: Bethel Park, California, Canon-McMillan, Carmichaels, Derry Area, Gateway, Hempfield, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Serra Catholic, Seton La Salle