The State College boys volleyball team is spending a lot of time watching and waiting the last half of May.
After beating Altoona 3-1 for the District 6 Class 3A championship on May 16, the Little Lions (11-3) do not play again until May 31, with a trip to McDowell (Erie), the District 10 champion. The winner of that match advances to the 16-team PIAA tournament, with first-round matches set for June 6.
Should State College beat the Trojans and make the state tournament field, the Little Lions would host the third-place team from District 7 (Pittsburgh area), and a win in that match would bring another home contest in the quarterfinals, according to the PIAA’s brackets.
The PIAA championship match will be played June 17 at Penn State’s Rec Hall.
State College has not participated in, or won, a first-round match in the PIAA tournament since 2019, when it beat North Penn in the opener before falling to Bethel Park in the quarterfinals.
On the strength of the district title and quality wins late in the season, the Little Lions have returned to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association rankings, earning No. 10 in Class 3A. State College defeated McDowell 2-0 during a tournament at Shaler on May 13, the teams’ only meeting this season.
