Montour High School setter Ryan Williams was announced as the WPIAL's Class AA most valuable player before the championship match at La Roche College last night. Williams later earned his award by leading the Spartans to their third WPIAL title, and first since 2000, with a 3-1 win against Latrobe.

"He's the MVP for a reason," Montour coach Brendon Aleski said. "He's the best player in any gym we play in, and tonight was no different."

Williams recorded 57 assists, spreading the ball to three different hitters. Erik Leithauser led the Spartans with 18 kills, while Mike Pekala and Luke Barefoot recorded 13 and 12, respectively.

"Our passing game was a key to the victory, but we also played great defense," Williams said. "Our passing game froze their blockers and our defense kept their hitters from dominating. It was a perfect combination."

It looked as if the second-seeded Spartans would win the match in three games. They won the first two games, 26-24 and 25-18, and had match point in Game 3, but the top-seeded Wildcats rallied for a 29-27 victory.

Latrobe jumped to a 6-2 lead in Game 4 and were within one point of tying the match, 2-2, but Montour scored the final three points to pull out a 26-24 win. Pekala recorded the winning point with a block.

Montour was making its fourth trip to the final, and first since consecutive appearances in 1999 and 2000. Latrobe was making its first title appearance.

"I knew coming in that we were two evenly matched teams, but they started the game a little quicker than we did," Latrobe coach Drew Vosefski said. "We had our shot but didn't capitalize on it. But I'm still very proud of my kids."

In the Class AAA title match, North Allegheny rallied from a Game 1 loss to record a 3-1 victory against defending champion Fox Chapel.

North Allegheny, the No. 2 seed, was making its 15th title-match appearance and captured its 10th championship. The Tigers have won titles four of the past five years.

Fox Chapel made a return trip to the title match despite being seeded No. 9 in the 13-team bracket. The Foxes tied for fourth place in Section 2 and were swept by the Tigers twice in the regular season.

"We knew the caliber of team they were, so it didn't surprise me the way they played," North Allegheny coach Dan Schall said.

Fox Chapel recorded a 25-22 win in Game 1 and were ahead, 24-23, in Game 2, but North Allegheny scored the next three points to pull out the victory. The Tigers then posted wins of 25-22 and 25-18 to complete the victory.

The top three finishers in each classification qualify for the PIAA tournament, which starts Tuesday.

Hempfield earned its first PIAA berth with a 25-11, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17 win against Penn Hills in the Class AAA consolation final.

In Class AA, Ambridge earned its fourth PIAA berth in six years with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-14 win against Derry Area.