When Avonworth, a No. 11 seed, won the WPIAL Class 2A girls volleyball title on Saturday at Peters Township’s AHN Arena, coaches, players and fans were asking one question:

“Has a double-digit seed ever won a WPIAL girls volleyball title?”

With that question in mind, the Post-Gazette took a look at 29 years of available brackets dating back to 1997 with the goal of charting the seed number of the champion and runner-up each year. That’s 94 tournaments - 10 in Class 4A, 29 in each Class 3A and 2A, and 26 in Class 1A.

The top two seeds have dominated the championships during this 29-year stretch:

• The No. 1 seed has won 57 titles and placed second 23 times. That accounts for 80 of the 94 tournaments.

• The No. 2 seed has won 24 titles and earned a silver medal 35 times.


• The No. 3 s

See Full Page