The Ambridge High School boys' volleyball team had a scrimmage a week ago to prepare for Friday's WPIAL Class AA championship match against Latrobe.

"We had a group of former Ambridge players come to our practice and provided us with a team to scrimmage," Ambridge coach Dennis Damp said. "The alumni team had more than a half dozen [former] WPIAL All-Stars. The competition they provided helped us prepare for Latrobe."

Ambridge made its fourth WPIAL title appearance since 2002 and claimed its second crown with a 3-1 win against Latrobe Friday at La Roche College.

"Latrobe was a very formidable opponent," Damp said. "They have a very good team with seven solid players."

Ambridge earned its WPIAL berth by winning the Section 1-AA title. The Bridgers entered the 13-team bracket as the No. 1 seed, and posted a 3-0 win against Seton-LaSalle in the quarterfinals, and a 3-0 win against Deer Lakes in the semifinals.

"The first game was the key to the championship match," said Latrobe coach Drew Vosefski, referring to a marathon game in which Ambridge survived with a 29-27 victory. "We had game-point twice and couldn't pull it out. It was very frustrating, but the kids didn't let it affect their play in the second game."

Latrobe rallied with a 25-23 win in game two.

"It could have been a much different match if Latrobe had won that first game," Damp said. "They had two match-points and we had two match-points before we came up with the winning point. It was that close."

Ambridge jumped out to a 10-4 lead in game three, but Latrobe battled back to cut the deficit to 19-18. At that point, the Bridgers took control and pulled out a 25-21 victory.

"The third game was nip and tuck," Vosefski said. "I thought we had a pretty good chance, but they came through at the end. In game four, we came out pretty flat and got down pretty quick."

Ambridge capped the title with a 25-12 win in game four.

"We were successful when we were aggressive and forcing the play," said Damp. "We got in trouble when we layed back and played tentatively. The kids finally realized that in the third and fourth games."

Ambridge earned its third consecutive PIAA tournament berth and opened with a 3-0 victory Tuesday against Northeastern, the fifth-place finisher from District 3.

"We won in the first round last year, but didn't make it out of the quarterfinal round-robin," Damp said. "This year, we have to be considered one of the favorites."

Ambridge was led by sophomore outside hitter Nick Goodell, junior opposite Luke Ecimovic and junior setter Evan Fullerton. Goodell led the Bridgers with 22 kills and 9 digs; Fullerton had 49 assists and 9 digs; and Ecimovic had 10 kills.

Latrobe was led by senior libero Shaun Kline, sophomore outside hitter Colin Sherwin and junior setter Mark DeDiana. Sherwin led the Wildcats with 16 kills; DeDiana recorded 44 assists; and Kline had 17 digs.

"I was especially impressed by their libero [Kline] and setter [DeDiana]," Damp said. "And they had three or four good hitters. I expect them to do well at the state tournament."

Hopewell earned its first PIAA berth by placing third in the WPIAL Class AA tournament. The Vikings dropped a 3-2 decision to eventual runner-up Latrobe in the semifinals, then rebounded with a 3-2 win against Deer Lakes in the third-place match.

"We had a five-game match with Latrobe on Wednesday, but couldn't close the deal," said Hopewell coach Terry Borkovic. "We met Deer Lakes two weeks ago [in a non-section match] and we beat them in five games, so I wasn't surprised to see it go to five games again. "

Hopewell lost to Saegertown, 3-0, in the PIAA first round Tuesday.

Hopewell had the unfortunate task of facing District 10 champion Saegertown in the first round. Saegertown was ranked No. 1 in the state most of the season.