With PIAA girls volleyball expanding to 6 classes, Butler County teams prepare for big shakeups
The landscape of Pennsylvania high school girls volleyball will look much different this fall.
The PIAA has moved the sport from four to six classes, shrinking the gap between the smallest and biggest schools in any one class according to enrollment.
“The gaps used to be so broad, some teams just couldn’t break through to make their district’s playoffs and beyond that, the state playoffs,” Mars coach Tami Caraway said. “Six classes will provide opportunities for more schools to succeed.”
The class each girls volleyball program in the state has been placed in for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years was determined by each school’s number of females in grades 9-11 as of Oct. 1, 2025.
Class 3A is a good example of the effect of how two additional classes has changed the playing field. In the last two-year cycle, South Fayette was the largest 3A school in the WPIAL with 438 females, 189 more than Freeport, the smallest 3A school.
With six classes, Hopewell is now the biggest 3A school with 238 females and Chartiers-Houston is the smallest at 156, a difference of just 82.
“The last couple of years, we were four girls over the limit for 2A,” said Freeport coach Tom Phillips, whose Yellowjackets will remain a 3A team. “Six classes is definitely a big change, but it levels the playing field.
“I knew this move was coming, it was just a matter of what class we’d be in.”
Knoch, Freeport and Mars are no longer in the same Class 3A section. In fact, the Knights (4A), Yellowjackets and Planets (5A) are in three separate classes. But Freeport will play Knoch and Mars in non-section games this season.
Class 6A is where the WPIAL will experience the biggest shakeup. The district responded to the PIAA’s decision to expand to six classes by placing its nine 6A programs in one of two sections.
Section 1 includes Butler, Seneca Valley, North Allegheny and Pine-Richland. Section 2 consists of Baldwin, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon and Norwin.
The top two teams in Section 1 and the top three teams in Section 2, along with two at-large teams as chosen by the WPIAL, will compete in the postseason.
Seneca Valley coach Brett Poirier is not a fan of his team’s playoff chances coming down to the outcome of just six section games. North Catholic and North Hills used to be section foes of the Raiders and Golden Tornado, but are now in Class 5A.
“I was hoping they’d put all nine teams in one big section,” he said. “Our section, with NA and Pine-Richland (which have combined to win five of the last six district titles), is consistently the best in the WPIAL, and Butler is decent, too. I would’ve liked to have seen those other (6A) teams see what we have to deal with every year.
“We’ll just have to deal with it and see how it goes.”
Twenty-four WPIAL teams were 4A programs the last two years, with 14 of them qualifying each season for the playoffs.
Just seven 6A programs will make the postseason under the new system.
And, like softball, which moved to six classes nine years ago, only the WPIAL champion will qualify for the state playoffs in girls volleyball.
SV will face the other five 6A WPIAL teams in non-section contests.
“I want to play them all to see what each team has,” Poirier said.
Slippery Rock, Butler County’s lone District 10 school, will look to win a second straight region title against a number of unfamiliar foes. The Rockets make the jump from Class 3A to 4A and are now in Region 4, which includes the district’s two Class 6A schools — McDowell and Erie. Slippery Rock will be on the road for both of those matchups in October.
Corry, Warren, Fort LeBoeuf and Harbor Creek, among other teams, are also now region opponents of Slippery Rock. District 10 has no 5A programs in girls volleyball.
“There’s going to be some long rides and late nights, but I’m excited for some new competition,” Slippery Rock coach Brandon Ferrier said. “Hopefully, our girls will be up to the challenge.”
The Rockets’ backyard rival, Grove City, remains in 3A, but the teams will face each other in a non-region clash.
The following is the classification each Butler County-area girls volleyball team will compete in the next two seasons compared to the last two years.
WPIAL 2026-27 2024-25
Butler 6A 4A
Freeport 3A 3A
Knoch 4A 3A
Mars 5A 3A
North Catholic* 5A 4A
Seneca Valley 6A 4A
*North Catholic is a Class 4A program that chooses to play up in classification
District 9 2026-27 2024-25
A-C Valley 1A 1A
Karns City 3A 2A
Moniteau 2A 2A
Union 1A 1A
District 10 2026-27 2024-25
Slippery Rock 4A 3A
