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Bethel Park falls to Penn-Trafford

By Eleanor Bailey 3 min read
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Members of the Bethel Park volleyball team pose after losing to Penn-Trafford in the WPIAL Class AAA volleyball championship match.

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Jake Dixon (No. 10) and Derek Miller react after the final point gave Bethel Park the victory against North Allegheny and a berth in the WPIAL final for the third time in eight years.

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Caleb Pierson (No. 23) and Zachary Lizun (No. 12) block a shot taken by Jason Stiefvater (No. 4) during WPIAL boys’ volleyball playoff action. Pierson and Lizun dominated the middle for Bethel Park as the Hawks swept North Allegheny, 3-0, and advanced to the championship match.

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Brandon Thorsen celebrates after Bethel Park defeated North Allegheny, 3-0, to advance to the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ finals set for 8 p.m. May 27 at Baldwin.

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Michale Kapusta reaches for the ball and digs out a winner for the Hawks while Connor Savrese (No. 13) and Caleb Pierson (No. 23) look on.

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Brandon Thorsen sets the ball for one of his hitters to spike during the match against North Allegheny.

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.Eleanor Bailey/the almanac

Jake Dixon scores a kill during semifinal action against North Allegheny.

Days after playing its best match of the season, Bethel Park picked a bad time to play less than par. As a result, the Black Hawks finished as WPIAL runners-up in boys’ volleyball for the third time. Penn-Trafford swept the Black Hawks, 3-0, in the Class AAA final played May 27 at Baldwin.

“It just wasn’t our night,” said Jake Dixon.

Indeed not. Plagued by errors, the Hawks dropped straight sets to the Warriors, 33-31, 25-20, 27-25. Brendan O’Toole proved the difference, particularly in the long, first game. He won the final three points for the Warriors and recorded nine kills. O’Toole led Penn-Trafford with 20 kills.

Dixon led all players with 25 kills. He finished with three blocks. Michael Kapusta added eight kills for the Hawks, who begin PIAA tournament play tonight (June 1) at 7 p.m. against Brashear at Allderdice.

As Penn-Trafford dominated the Hawks, so too, Bethel Park controlled North Allegheny in the semifinals. As a result of its 3-0 sweep of the Tigers, BP advanced to its third title match in eight years.

“It’s such a relief to beat them,” said Dixon. “North Allegheny has always been a team that has knocked us out of the playoffs.”

The Tigers had beaten BP in its two previous title quests. The Hawks lost in the 2008 and 2012 finals.

This time around, Bethel Park breezed by the Tigers, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15.

“Finally,” coach Tom Allman said when told that his team played its best match of the year.

Dixon agreed. “Without a doubt,” he said this was BP’s “best match all season.”

Seneca Valley, which lost to Penn-Trafford, 3-1, in the other semifinal, had plenty to do with forcing the Hawks to play up to their potential.

Before the regular season ended, BP dropped a five-setter to the Raiders. The Hawks had won the first two games but lost. They came back to lose the third set, 25-23, and were leading the fourth game, 20-14, and the fifth by a two-point margin before letting the match slip away.

“Seneca Valley was a wake-up call. The loss opened our eyes,” Allman said. “We realized we had some things to work on and we worked on what we needed to do.

“We had a lot of energy (against NA) and we worked on what we needed to do. We were ready to play.”

Indeed, the Hawks jumped out to a 20-10 lead in the first game and never trailed. Although Dixon led the way with 19 kills, he was not the sole key to victory. Zack Lizun and Connor Savrese excelled in the middle. Michael Kapusta and Caleb Pierson also played well on the outside. Brandon Thorsen set brilliantly and Derek Miller performed well defensively.

“Dixon is always there and he always does well,” Allman said. “Kapusta did a nice job. He picked up his end. Our middles controlled the match. That was one of the keys to stopping them. They did a great job.

“And,” continued Allman, “we used our right side and spread it out. All those things were keys.”

Dixon agreed with the analysis and added that unity also factored into the victory.

“North Allegheny is a good team but we played together. We played good defense and blocked well. We couldn’t have asked for a better match.”

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