BUTLER TWP - Butler's varsity boys volleyball team made history Tuesday night - and wasted little time doing it.

The Golden Tornado defeated South Park, 3-0, in barely an hour to claim their first-ever WPIAL playoff win.

Butler (12-4) made its only other volleyball playoff appearance in 1996, when it lost in five sets to Upper St. Clair in the first round.

"It feels good to be back in the playoffs. It feels great to still be alive in the playoffs," Butler coach Lew Liparulo said.

The Tornado won the games 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 over the outmanned Eagles.

South Park (9-7) never led until it scored the first point of the third game. Its last lead was at 7-5 in that game - before Butler reeled off eight consecutive points to take control for good.

Butler jumped out to leads of 11-2 and 12-3 in games 1 and 2, respectively.

"It's tough to come back against deficits like that," South Park assistant coach Ian Valenta said. "We let their servers get on a roll too much."

Valenta and fellow assistant coach Chad Farrington ran the team as head coach Ashley Macko recently accepted a real estate position in Hilton Head, S.C.

Macko remained with the team through its banquet over the weekend.

"Chad and I primarily coached the JVs all year, but we worked closely with the varsity, too," Valenta said. "It's not like we were dead in the water without Coach (Macko)."

The Eagles appeared dead in the water against Butler's ball control, however.

Chris Erdos had 17 kills for the Tornado and Rick Gonzalez added 16. Shawn Vincent had 33 assists and Garrett Rettig had eight passes.

Erdos paced Butler in scoring with 15 points.

"We were sloppy at times," Liparulo said. "We had 12 unforced errors in the second game, and that's way too many. You can't give away points like that.

"If we play that way in the next game … we won't be in the playoffs very much longer."

Butler plays Penn Hills, which received a first-round bye, Thursday. Site and time have yet to be determined.

The Tornado's 12-3 lead in the second game shrank to 12-9 as four consecutive unforced errors put South Park back in the game.

Vincent scored a couple of quick points, Erdos and Gonzalez scored on successive kills and Butler re-established control. Zack Wilms aced his serve for game point.

Erdos recorded three kills during the Tornado's 8-0 run in Game 3.

"Other than (6-foot-5) Devin Koehring, they outsized us overall," Liparulo said. "That's been the case in pretty much all of our matches this year.

"Our kids execute really well. They play with a lot of intensity and heart."

Jeff Simmons had four points and David Winkler three for South Park. Winkler is one of just two seniors on the Eagles' roster.

South Park reached the WPIAL playoffs for the second consecutive year - the only two playoff appearances in the program's six-year history. The Eagles were eliminated by Derry Area in the first round last year.