The West Allegheny High School girls' volleyball team experienced the phenomenon of deja vu last Friday during the PIAA quarterfinal round robin, which took place at Central York High School.

"We had the same three teams in our bracket last year," West Allegheny coach Lisa Pyrdek said. "We even played them in the same order. But unfortunately, the results were a little different."

West Allegheny earned its fourth PIAA berth in five years by claiming its second consecutive WPIAL Class AA title. The Indians advanced to the quarterfinal round robin with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of Meadville in the first round.

"We lost the first game in all three matches," Pyrdek said. "It's tough losing the first game when you're only playing three games. There's no room for error in the second and third games."

West Allegheny faced Phillipsburg-Osceola, the District 6 champion, in its first match and posted a 21-25, 25-22, 25-20 victory.

Next was a showdown with two-time defending champion Merion Mercy, the District 1 champion. Merion Mercy won the first game 25-21, West Allegheny won the second game, 25-23, and Merion Mercy claimed the third game, 25-17.

"It all came down to our match with Archbishop Carroll," Pyrdek said. "The winner moved into the semifinals, while the loser goes home.

"We beat them last year, and they beat us this year."

West Allegheny got off to another bad start, losing 25-22, but rebounded with a 25-17 win in the second game.

"The third game was tight until [Archbishop Carroll] went on an eight-point run," Pyrdek said. "We were only down 9-8. The eight-point run gave them a 17-8 lead. We really got out of sync and [Archbishop Carroll] took advantage of it."

The loss to Archbishop Carroll, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Radnor, ended West Allegheny's hopes of winning the PIAA Class AA title.

"Merion Mercy was ranked No. 1 in the state all season," Pyrdek said. "So it was no surprise to see them in the finals again this year. Winning three straight titles is quite an accomplishment."

West Allegheny looks to the future with hopes of winning a third consecutive WPIAL title.

"Our goal will be to 'three-peat' in the WPIAL," said Pyrdek, who has led the Indians to consecutive WPIAL titles in her first two seasons as head coach.

"It's a tall order when you consider the six girls [who will graduate] from this team."

West Allegheny had four players named to the WPIAL Class AA All-Star Team, including three seniors. Outside hitter Chelsea Katkich, middle hitter Korin Wengryn and Carissa Miara were voted to the first team, while Alexa Seybold was chosen on the second team. Katkich, Wengryn and Seybold are seniors, while Miara is a junior.

"All four are deserving of the honor of being chosen to the WPIAL All-Star Team," Pyrdek said. "Korin was also chosen to the PIAA All-Tournament Team."

The other seniors on Pyrdek's squad are Jaimie Borchart, Haley Hanczar and Angela Devereaux.

"It was disappointing to see the season come to an end, but we finished [in a tie for] fifth in the state," Pyrdek said. "We also tied for the Section 3-AA title and won a WPIAL title. That's something to be very proud of."

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