WHITEHALL — Against the top-ranked team in the state, Seneca Valley dug itself a hole it simply could not afford.

The Raiders' boys volleyball team was dominated in the first two sets of Friday night's WPIAL Class AAA championship game against Fox Chapel. Though they responded with much stronger play in the third and fourth set, the Raiders bowed to the Foxes 3-1 at Baldwin High School. Fox Chapel won the sets 25-13, 25-11, 20-25 and 25-21.

“When you're playing on your heels against a good team, they're going to take advantage of the mistakes you make,” said Seneca coach Dan Follett.

The Foxes, who have been ranked No. 1 in the state throughout the season, received four kills from senior outside hitter Andrew Tublin during a 14-7 run to start the first set.

The Raiders managed just three points with the serve the entire set, then found themselves down 11-3 early in the second. The zenith of Fox Chapel's dominance came later in the second set when it reeled off six straight points as its lead swelled to 20-5.

“I don't know what our guys came out with to start the match, but I loved it,” said Fox Chapel coach Phil O'Keeffe. “We blocked phenomenally and never let Seneca Valley grab the momentum in the first two sets.”

“Our guys were playing scared,” said Seneca senior Taylor Matthews. “We weren't scared of Fox Chapel, but scared of making mistakes. We seniors came together and said, 'We're not finished here. This is not us.'”

Follett called several timeouts early on in an attempt to break the Foxes' momentum.

“We had to get our heads back on track,” he said. “When our heads are where they need to be, we're a tough team to beat.”

The Raiders proved that when they defeated the Foxes 3-2 May 5th, Fox Chapel's only loss to date. Seneca Valley finally began to flash that ability in Friday's third set.

A pair of kills from Austin Herrmann and service aces from John Price and Tyler Herrmann sparked the Raiders to an early 10-6 edge.

Seneca turned the tables on its section rival as the Foxes went eight straight possessions without scoring a point. They rebounded with four straight points to cut SV's lead to 18-17, but led by a key block and kill by junior middle blocker John Dolfi, the Raiders pulled away for a five-point win.

After taking the first two sets with ease, Fox Chapel suddenly found itself on the wrong side of the momentum.

“That third set, our guys were getting pretty hyped on the bench, but I just stayed back,” said O'Keeffe. “We learned from our loss to Seneca earlier this season. We had seen a lot of film on them and we knew exactly what we needed to do.”

And the Foxes executed it more times than not in the fourth set, with Jack Reese, Jaysen Zaleski and Ben DePellegrini each dropping crucial kills to help their team first keep pace with Seneca, then open up a decent-sized lead.

Aces on consecutive possessions by DePellegrini and Zaleski pushed the edge to 18-13 and the Foxes weren't threatened for the duration of the set.

“We stayed aggressive and played exceptionally well in the fourth set,” said O'Keeffe.

Matthews had 10 kills for the Raiders, Anthony Sprentz 26 assists and Stephen Jones 15 digs.

Tublin tallied 10 kills for the Foxes (16-1), who won the second WPIAL title in the program's history. The first came in 2006.

“We were the preseason No. 1 and there was a lot of pressure on us,” O'Keeffe said. “It was great to see us hold onto that.”

Seneca (15-2) will open the state playoffs against City League champion Carrick on Wednesday.

“Even if we had won tonight, we told the kids that they had tonight to think about it, that's it,” said Follett. “Then come to practice ready to work.”