What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Oct. 2, 2025: 1st place on the line in girls volleyball

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 | 11:38 PM

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Following a busy Thursday night on the hardwood, the WPIAL girls volleyball regular season will be down to two weeks remaining.

However, there are a handful of sections that could be either decided or muddied up for the stretch run with key Thursday showdowns.

• In Section 1-3A, one game separates the top three teams with Chartiers Valley at 7-1, Oakland Catholic at 6-1 and South Fayette at 5-2 in the section. On Thursday, the Colts host the Lions while the Eagles visit Montour (2-5).

• In Section 2-3A, the top two teams collide when Mars at 5-0 visits Hampton, which is a game back at 4-1. The Fightin’ Planets swept the Talbots in their first meeting, 3-0.

• The race for first place is very tight in Section 4-2A where there is only a one-game difference between the top four teams. On Thursday, first place Neshannock (7-1) visits winless Beaver Falls (0-8), while two of the three teams tied for second collide when Riverside (6-2) travels to Shenango (5-2). The other 5-2 team in the section is Mohawk, which visits Ellwood City (1-7).

• The race is also tight in Section 5-2A as the top four teams will meet in an effort to break a current three way tie for first place. Burrell, Deer Lakes and Southmoreland are all 4-1 in the section. On Thursday, the Buccaneers are home to fourth-place Yough (2-3) while the other two tied teams collide when the Lancers welcome the Scotties.

• In Section 1-A, the top four teams go head to head Thursday with the two teams tied for first on the road. Springdale (4-1) visits Apollo-Ridge (3-2) and St. Joseph’s (4-1) travels to Aquinas Academy (3-2).

Looking for the asterisk

Thursday marks another busy evening on the pitch in district boys soccer with first place at stake in one section and several WPIAL teams ready to punch their postseason tickets.

There is a four-way logjam for the top spot in Section 3-3A with one game in the loss column the only difference between first place and fourth place.

Franklin Regional and Latrobe are both 5-2, Belle Vernon is 5-3 and Penn-Trafford is 4-3.

On Thursday, Franklin Regional hosts Belle Vernon and Penn-Trafford is home to West Mifflin (1-5).

In their first meeting this season, the Leopards defeated the Panthers 1-0 in a section clash that went into double overtime.

While Franklin Regional, Belle Vernon and Latrobe have all clinched a 3A playoff berth, Penn-Trafford is in with a win or a tie against the Titans.

Speaking of win and in, these boys soccer teams can clinch a WPIAL postseason berth with a victory Thursday no matter what happens elsewhere:

• Class 4A: Central Catholic and Mt. Lebanon

• Class 3A: Shaler, Hampton, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, Penn-Trafford, Montour, West Allegheny

• Class 2A: Beaver, McGuffey

• Class A: None

Double gold

The championship finals are set for Thursday in the WPIAL girls tennis doubles tournament.

The top two seeds will meet for gold in Class 3A when top seed Jackie Tang and Michelle Yang of Mt. Lebanon will meet No. 2 Brooke Henderson and Alexandra Merkel of Shady Side Academy.

While the defending champions Tang and Yang cruised to wins in the first three rounds Wednesday, Henderson and Brooke needed a tiebreaker in the semifinals to beat No. 11 seed Catalina Ramirez and Lella Hamade of Upper St. Clair.

Ramirez and Hamade will take on No. 5 Mackenzie Smock and Hadley Murello of Bethel Park in the 3A consolation finals.

The top two seeds in 2A are also set to battle for a district title when No. 1 Veronica Zinski and Marann Buckanovich of Winchester Thurston square off against Evelyn Marche and Macaria Stall of North Catholic.

Both duos looked impressive in reaching the finals with the Winchester Thurston pair winning two matches after a first-round bye while the Trojans teammates cruised in three matches.

The 2A consolation finals will pit Jane Lenhard and Kate Miller of Quaker Valley against Madalyn Arrow and Giada Cappabianco of Neshannock.

The championship and consolation finals take place at North Allegheny starting at 1 p.m.