It's one down and one to go for the Mt. Lebanon girls' volleyball team.

The Blue Devils claimed the WPIAL Class AAA title last night with a 3-2 victory against Seneca Valley in the last of three championship matches held at Chartiers Valley High School.

"We've been ranked No. 1 [in both the WPIAL and PIAA] all season," Mt. Lebanon setter Kate Begor said. "We reached one goal with today's title. We still have one more goal to reach. Hopefully, we can win the state title next week."

But reaching the first goal was not easy, as Seneca Valley rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of victories to force a fifth and deciding game.

"Seneca Valley has a very explosive team so it didn't surprise me that they fought back to tie the match," said Mt. Lebanon coach Dawn Begor, who is Kate's mother. "We knew if they got into a rhythm that we would be in trouble."

Mt. Lebanon jumped to a commanding 2-0 lead with wins of 25-20 and 27-25. Seneca Valley, the No. 2 seed, made a valiant comeback with wins of 26-24 and 26-15. The Blue Devils came back to life in game five and pulled out a 15-10 victory.

"I'm very proud of the way my girls battled back after losing the first two games," Seneca Valley coach Karen Martini said. "They saw it was do or die and almost came out on top."

West Allegheny was the only returning champion to defend its title. The Indians claimed a second consecutive WPIAL Class AA title with a sweep of Freeport. West Allegheny was making its fourth title appearance in five years, while Freeport was making its title debut.

"I can see why they are the defending champions," Freeport coach Tom Phillips said. "They have a great team. I think we were a little in awe of them. The experience of having been here before really helped them."

West Allegheny opened the title match with a convincing 25-14 victory. Freeport settled down and played much better in the next two games, but the Indians posted victories of 25-22 and 25-20 to close out the match and claim a second consecutive championship trophy.

"We had a lot of great players back from last year's team," West Allegheny coach Lisa Pyrdek said. "They knew what it takes to win a match of this importance and didn't let the pressure of being a defending champion get to them."

West Shamokin claimed its first WPIAL title with a 3-1 victory against Greensburg Central Catholic. The Wolves were the preseason favorite after the merger of Elderton and West Shamokin, two of the best programs in Class A.

"We had to become a team first," West Shamokin coach Dan Spencer said. "We had two very competitive rivals merging together. ... Once the girls learned to play together, their talent took over."

Three of the four games were decided by two points. Greensburg Central Catholic recorded a 25-23 victory in the first game but West Shamokin rallied to sweep the next three, 25-23, 25-18, 28-26.

"We are two talented teams that are very familiar with each other," said Spencer, referring to the Wolves and Centurions' tie for first place in Section 1-A. "It was a great match and even better to come out on top."

The two finalists in all three matches qualified for the PIAA championships, which begin Tuesday. Mars and Blackhawk also qualified in Class AA by finishing among the top four in the WPIAL. The third berth in Class A was claimed by Jefferson-Morgan. The Rockets earned their first PIAA berth with a 25-16, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of Beaver County Christian for third place. Beaver County Christian was the defending champion. Only the top two teams qualify in Class AAA.

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