Sports briefs
Volleyball pairings set
The Mapletown girls volleyball team made program history this season by securing their first undefeated section title.
Now, the Maples have their sights set on continuing their historic season with a run through the WPIAL playoffs.
Mapletown is seeded No. 2 in Class A and will play Apollo-Ridge in the first round Tuesday (6 p.m.) at Bethel Park.
Mapletown is one of only two local teams to receive a top-4 seed for the postseason. South Fayette, the Section 2 champion, is seeded fourth in Class 3A. The Lions open the postseason Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) at home against either Mars or Blackhawk.
“I was hoping for No. 2 or 3,” said Mapletown coach Christy Menear. “I’m very pleased with the No. 2 seed. I’m surprised we didn’t get the No. 3 seed since we’re so new to the playoff world.”
The No. 2 seed also means the Maples won’t see top-seeded Bishop Canevin until the final, should both teams advance. Mapletown’s lone loss in its 16-1 season was to the Crusaders.
Bishop Canevin won in straight sets, but didn’t run away from the Maples with scores of 25-18, 25-7, 25-23.
“We had two very respectable sets against Bishop Canevin,” said Menear.
Ten local teams have qualified for the postseason. The largest field is in Double-A with 20 teams, including four from the Washington-Greene area.
Complete pairings for the preliminary and first rounds of the playoffs, which begin Monday, can be found in the Scoreboard section on Page C2.
In college sports
Southern Mississippi accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference on Friday, dealing another blow to Conference USA, which already had six members announce their departures this week.
The Southern Miss news comes a day after the American Athletic Conference announced the additions of six C-USA schools – UAB, Charlotte, Rice, Florida Atlantic, North Texas and UTSA – also at a date to be determined.
In the NHL
Charlie Coyle had a goal and two assists, Linus Ullmark made 34 saves against his former team and the Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 on Friday night.
Logan Couture had two goals and an assist and Adin Hill made 30 saves in the San Jose’s 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, keeping the Sharks perfect in the young season.
Timo Meier, Jonathan Dahlen and Erik Karlsson provided the rest of the offense for San Jose (4-0-0), which played for the third time in four nights, including Thursday’s 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators.
In the NBA
Zach LaVine scored 32 points, DeMar DeRozan added 26 and the Chicago Bulls beat New Orleans 128-112 in their home opener.
Chicago’s Lonzo Ball added a triple-double against his former team with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. And the Bulls delighted their fans, rolling to an easy victory with Pelicans star Zion Williams recovering from surgery on his right foot.
- Christian Wood had 31 points and 14 rebounds and Houston beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 124-91 in the Rockets’ home opener.
Oklahoma City had few answers for Wood, who went 13 for 19 from the field, including 4 of 6 from the 3-point line. Fourth in Most Improved Player voting last season, he also blocked four shots and had a steal.