North Allegheny's Dennis O'Neil did not play in Friday's WPIAL Class AAA title match against Penn Hills, but his teammates didn't forget him.

"We lost Dennis for the season three weeks ago when he suffered a broken wrist," said North Allegheny coach Dan Schall, after Friday's title match at La Roche College. "We've dedicated every play of every playoff game to Dennis."

Tigers teammates Matthew Miller and Michael Krepp echoed those thoughts after North Allegheny recorded a 3-0 upset of the top-seeded Indians.

"Dennis has been a lot of motivation for us," said Miller, a senior outside hitter, who led the Tigers with 12 kills. "It was so hard losing him for the season. We want to win everything for him because he is so dedicated to the team and the sport. We wanted to win it for No. 22."

"Dennis put a fire under our butts," said Krepp, a junior setter who recorded 35 assists for the Tigers. "He really got us going. We wanted to win the title for him."

North Allegheny's 3-0 sweep was a surprise since Penn Hills had won eight of 11 games in regular-season tournaments against the Tigers. Schall had a solid explanation for why the results were so different this time.

"We blocked well early and got them out of rhythm," he said. "We also served tougher, with more of a purpose."

Penn Hills entered the season as a strong favorite to win the WPIAL Class AAA title.

"We didn't pass well and were not able to run our offense," said a frustrated Penn Hills coach Dan Brown. "It's that simple.

"It's a shame because we have so much more offense. [North Allegheny] blocked well because we got predictable. We can't beat them if we don't pass well."

Despite the loss, Brown still considers Penn Hills the better team.

"I still think we are the best team," Brown said. "We beat them more times during the regular season, but they played better than we did [Saturday]. I take my hat off to them."

North Allegheny was seeded No. 2 in the 12-team bracket, despite being a two-time defending champion.

"There was no pressure on us," Schall said. "Few people thought we would win. That's a great position to be in. I know how Penn Hills feels. It's a tough position to be in when you're hunted all the time. We've been there before, so we know how it feels.

"It's a lot less pressure when you're the underdog."

North Allegheny earned its WPIAL playoff berth by winning the Section 2-AAA title. The Tigers stumbled in the final week of the regular season, however, with a loss to Seneca Valley.

"The Seneca Valley match was a great wakeup call," Schall said. "That exposed a lot of weaknesses that we didn't think we had."

North Allegheny earned its title berth with a pair of 3-0 sweeps of Plum and Seneca Valley. Penn Hills earned its berth with 3-0 wins against Bethel Park and Latrobe.

North Allegheny opened the title match with a 25-19 victory. The Tigers built a nine-point lead, 23-14, before Penn Hills rallied to cut the deficit to two points. North Allegheny, however, held on to win, 25-22. The third game was a marathon, as North Allegheny claimed its fifth title in six years with a 35-33 win.

"We were the underdog," said Krepp, a two-year starter. "Nobody thought we would win, but we knew we could win. This is my third title, but this one means so much more."

North Allegheny qualified for the PIAA tournament by placing among the top three in the WPIAL. The Tigers opened PIAA tournament play Tuesday night with a 3-0 victory against District 3 fourth-place finisher Governor Mifflin.

In Class AA, Deer Lakes made its first WPIAL title match appearance since 1983, but dropped a 3-0 decision to defending champion Ambridge.

"We played hard, but didn't play well enough in spots," Deer Lakes coach Rick Tatrn said. "That was the story all week. We couldn't find any separation when we got close. [Ambridge] is very consistent."

Ambridge recorded a 25-22 victory in the first game, then scored consecutive victories of 25-21 to claim the title.

The Lancers rebounded to win their first-round match in PIAA tournament play, defeating District 6 Huntingdon, 3-0.