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Six things to watch for the week of Oct. 8-13. * A week after WPIAL golf individual champions were crowned, the team tournaments take center stage. The girls semifinals are Monday and boys semifinals Tuesday, and the championships for both boys and girls are Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course. For the boys, Central Catholic is the two-time defending champion in Class 3A and Sewickley Academy the five-time defending champion in Class 2A. On the girls side, North Allegheny has won three consecutive Class 3A titles and Greensburg Central Catholic three straight Class 2A titles. * The WPIAL girls tennis team championships are set to begin Wednesday and will come to a close next week. North Allegheny has owned Class 3A in recent years, having won five straight titles. Sewickley Academy is the reigning Class 2A champion and has reached the final 9 of the last 10 years. * If you’re looking for a loaded slate of big-time Friday night football games, you won’t be so lucky this week. This isn’t a very big week for marquee matchups, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some solid games. Among the best are Mt. Lebanon-Pine-Richland, Baldwin-Bethel Park, Belle Vernon-West Mifflin, East Allegheny-Avonworth, McGuffey-Charleroi and Washington-Beth-Center. * As hard as it might be to believe, there is just over a week remaining in the regular season for WPIAL soccer teams. There are quite a few playoff spots and section titles still up for grabs. Some of the bigger boys matchups this week are North Catholic-Quaker Valley on Tuesday and Butler-Seneca Valley on Thursday. The Freedom girls are trying to go undefeated in section play for the third year in a row. The Bulldogs have three section matches remaining. * Also in boys soccer, Penn Hills hosts Connellsville on Monday in a Class 4A Section 3 match. When these teams last met Sept. 6 – a 6-1 Connellsville home win – Connellsville players and fans allegedly used racial slurs towards Penn Hills players. Penn Hills officials asked the WPIAL the investigate the matter, and the WPIAL board of directors held a hearing Sept. 24 to discuss the situation. The WPIAL chose not to penalize Connellsville, but mandated that the school implement a plan to train “student-athletes regarding racial and cultural sensitivity.” * Two weeks remain in the volleyball regular season. This week's top match involves two top-five teams in Class 4A. No. 3 Oakland Catholic (7-3) plays host to No. 5 Bethel Park 7-3) on Tuesday with second place in Section 2 on the line. Also on Tuesday, No. 5 Brentwood (8-1) travels to No. 6 Fort Cherry (6-2) in a Class 1A Section 3 showdown for second place. On Thursday, No. 3 Central Valley (8-2) plays host to No. 6 Hampton (7-3) in Class 3A Section 4. |