The West Shamokin girls won the WPIAL “A” Volleyball title on Saturday. The Lady Wolves defeated Greensburg Catholic 3 games to 1. This was a team loaded up with the addition of Elderton girls, and their head coach Dan Spencer, who was coach at Elderton last season. The Freeport girls played for the “AA” title on Saturday too, but lost to West Allegheny 3-0. There are only 3 classifications in girls volleyball. West Shamokin will now compete for a PIAA state title, with the opening round starting Tuesday night.

The fans have spoken and here are their favorites to hoist the WPIAL Championship Trophy.

AAAA – Gateway 46% - More than double the next closest, the Gators have been ranked #1 all season long.

AAA – Thomas Jefferson 49% - Fans still like TJ more than Hopewell.

AA – Mt. Pleasant 26% - No one is quite sure who to like in “AA” 26% also said a team outside of the top 4 seeds.

A – Rochester 39% - Fans still favor Rochester over Clairton

We’ll see if you were right in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to all the fans who voted, and remember to go here to vote on WPIAL Playoff Games

Bad, Bad night for the Allegheny Conference

Greensburg Catholic over Freeport - 45-6.

Keystone Oaks over Burrell - 27-0

Mt. Pleasant leads Kittanning 45-6!!!! Final - Wow, I’m glad I didn’t go.

Sto-Rox led 24-20 over SSA late.

WPIAL Upset of the Night - North Hills over McKeesport 19-7.

Saturday will be a once in a generation event as Freeport and West Shamokin have a chance to win WPIAL Volleyball Championshipts. In”AA” Freeport will take on West Allegheny. In “A” West Shamokin will take on Greensburg Central Catholic.

Both Finals will be held Saturday afternoon at Charties Valley High School.

Lost in all the talk about the Kittanning and FC Football game is the fact the Freeport Girls have advanced to the WPIAL “AA” Volleyball Semifinals tonight against another 14-0 team in Mars. The game is tonight 7:30 in Fox Chapel.

West Shamokin is also playing for a trip to the Championship Game. An infusion of Elderton girls this year created a volleyball superpower. The Lady Wolves will take on Jefferson Morgan tonight 6pm in North Hills. Both the “A” and “AA” title games are Saturday afternoon.

Freeport’s Football game will take on GCC Friday night at home, in what looks like a can’t miss match-up of talented teams. Freeport could be on the verge of the biggest 72 hours in history of their school’s athletics.

I’ll try to keep you posted on these historic games in the Kittanning Paper, via Twitter – @rizzosports, & on the website at www.rizzosports.com.

Like I said yesterday – of all the teams from the Allegheny Conference in the playoffs, I wouldn’t trade our opponent with anyone. Mt. Pleasant has a football website www.mpvikings.com that you might want to check out.

Mt. Pleasant was 4-5 last year and missed the playoffs. This year’s squad is senior-led, with strengths on both lines. They’re a run-first team, with a lot of seniors. Their main weapon is RB Bryce Ansell, who runs behind a decent-sized line, and might be the best back the Cats have faced this year. The linebackers for KHS will be key, and will be asked to make a lot of tackles. However if he is stopped, then Kittanning will win this game. MP also has a solid defense their key men in this game will be senior safety Tim Ferree and DB Eric Wagner. They’ll be in charge of stopping the Cats’ passing attack.

I’ve been warned twice by people outside of Armstrong County that Mt. Pleasant is really good, but we’ll see on Friday.

You can also vote on WPIAL Playoffs Games here.

Kittanning heads to Mt. Pleasant

The Wildcats will play at Mt. Pleasant this Friday in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs. Kittanning was seeded 15th, but I think Mt. Pleasant is a great match-up for them. Should they win, they would face the winner of Burrell vs. Keystone Oaks, if I’m a Wildcat fan I couldn’t be happier with the Playoff Bracket. I say this because I feel the other top four seeds are much better then Mt. Pleasant. Plus they don’t have the playoff tradition, like some other schools in AA. Of all the teams in Kittannning’s section I think the Wildcats got the best match-up.

Freeport to Face Greensburg Central Catholic

Tough game for the YellowJackets, GCC is playing great right and they have a lot of talent. Heading into the playoffs. I thought both these teams could make a run to Heinz Field. Next they could meet Center, who might be the “AA” Favorite.

Post your thoughts…

Tomorrow (Monday Night) we’ll know who the Wildcats will face in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs.

The Playoffs have 16 teams, and the Wildcats will be somewhere between seed 14-16. The thing with “AA” this year is there is no clear favorite. South Fayette and Mt. Pleasent are the only two undefeated teams, but they might not be the top seed. Here are the final WPIAL Football Rankings, the Wildcats could probably play anyone of the top six teams. If I’m a Wildcat fan I don’t want to play Aliquippa or Center. The other team they want to stay away from is Greensburg Catholic, they seem to hot right now. I think the team the Cats have a great chance against is Mt. Pleasent.

This year’s playoffs are really really up for grabs trust me. Kittanning or Freeport could make a long run.

This will be the famous video, which I’m sure people will remember for a long time. This is Family Life TV’s feed of the Ktg vs. FC game on 10/30/09. I know if you call down to the studio (548-8000), you’ll be able to get a DVD of the entire exciting game.

This was such a great game and you hate to see a team have to lose. Everyone played their hearts out. Everything was on the line in this game. The game had a little bit of everything, even some controversy. Sam Panchick and Guido Formani, finally got their win against Ford City. Dan in the Leader Times called it the Harmon Hop, I call it the Comeback in Kittanning. I don’t even know what I called it on WTYM. Anyway it certainly was one of the most exciting games in long time. The one thing about this Kittanning team is they never gave up all year, and that is how I would sum up this classic.

Remember to check us out for polls and game picks during the playoffs.

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