AMBRIDGE — Ambridge reclaimed the WPIAL Section 1-2A boys volleyball title in style Tuesday night.
The Bridgers posted a 3-1 win over Beaver County Christian School to recapture the championship the Eagles took away last season en route to their second WPIAL championship. Ambridge (11-2 overall, 10-0 section) swept through the section to claim its ninth title in 11 years.
“It’s awesome to win,” Ambridge’s Erik Lundquist said. “It’s a good accomplishment.”
Both teams begin WPIAL tournament play next week. The pairings will be released Monday. Ambridge, ranked first in the Western Pennsylvania Coaches Association’s Class 2A final rankings, hopes to atone for last season, when it fell to Derry in the consolation match and missed out on qualifying for the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2005.
“After last season, we were pretty disappointed to finish fourth in WPIALs. We really wanted to push this year, and we’re doing well so far,” Ambridge’s Logan Sweigart said.
“We’re really motivated. It’s all we talked about all summer. It was just so disappointing because we have a dynasty, I think. After losing last year, we felt like we let everyone down. This year, hopefully, we’ll win the championship and push far into states.”
The final week of the regular season set up to be a challenging one for the Bridgers.
Tuesday's match against Beaver County Christian School (7-5, 6-4) was just the start. After the Eagles took the first set, 25-20, the Bridgers battled back for 25-19, 25-18 and 25-19 victories to close out section play.
“It’s a good thing playing good teams,” Lundquist said. “It pushes you a lot more. We’re never content.”
Derry, one of the WPIAL’s top-ranked Class 2A teams, and North Allegheny, the top-ranked Class 3A team, await. They will visit Ambridge on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
“It’s a good, tough week,” Ambridge coach Glenn Freed said. “We were looking forward to this and getting ourselves ready for next week. We’re not looking too far ahead, though.”
Even with momentum and likely a top seed coming in the postseason, the Bridgers have aspects of their game they hope to shore up in order to challenge for their first WPIAL title since 2015.
“We’re doing a lot of things better than we did at the beginning of the season, but there are some little things we need to keep working on,” Freed said. “We have to keep working through it.”
BCCS closes out the regular season Saturday at the OLSH tournament. The Eagles claimed the past two WPIAL titles, but graduated most of that group. Nevertheless, they hope to be a factor.
“The way we played tonight was, by far, the best we’ve played all season. I have a lot of younger guys that had to be role players this year. I think, at least this game, they stepped up and had the confidence to play around Peter Barbato and Sam Verrett, the two leaders on our team,” BCCS coach Christen Adels said. “I think, really, it’s going to be about who is playing well as a team at the end of the season. I know some teams have injuries and things, so it’s all about who comes together well.”