BUTLER TWP — No playoffs, no justice.

The Butler girls volleyball team saw its WPIAL playoff hopes vanish Tuesday night with a 3-1 loss to Section 3-AAA leader North Allegheny.

The Golden Tornado's third loss in a row dropped them to 6-5, 5-5 in Section 3. They are now in fourth place behind North Allegheny (8-1), Seneca Valley (6-2) and Pine-Richland (6-2). Only the top three teams reach the postseason.

"Playing the high caliber of competition night in and night out in our section is great," NA coach Dan Shall said. "The downside of that is one really good team from our section is going to miss out on the playoffs.

"I really feel for Butler right now. Their team would be champion of other sections and not only make the playoffs, but advance in the playoffs," he added.

Butler coach Meghan Lucas offers no argument.

"We played in the Cumberland Valley Tournament over the weekend and went 12-1, taking second out of 36 teams," Lucas said. "There were state tournament-level programs down there and we beat them.

"We've developed our program to the point that we can compete with the top teams in our league. Our girls are prepared to play at this level."

North Allegheny won Tuesday's match 25-18, 16-25, 27-25, 25-18. The match turned in the waning moments of the third game.

The Tornado trailed 24-20 when Lucas called a timeout. Butler then scored five consecutive points to take the lead, the final two coming on kills by seniors Abbie Druschel and Danielle Lloyd.

The Tigers (10-2, 8-1) survived when a kill attempt by the Tornado sailed long. Caroline Koenig, a senior defensive specialist, served an ace to give NA the lead and outside hitter Kaitlin Bradshaw's kill decided the game.

"Right there is where the match turned," Shall said. "The outcome of this match was swayed by a couple of points at the end of that game."

"Momentum would have been huge for us there," Lucas said. "We would have been sky high for Game 4."

As it was, the fourth game was tied at 5 before the Tigers scored nine of the next 11 points to grab a 14-7 lead. Butler got no closer than four the rest of the way.

Druschel paced the Tornado with six kills and seven blocks. Lyndsy Wittebort added five kills and six blocks.

Senior outside hitter Leeanne Haus paced North Allegheny with 11 points. She had a few service aces in Game 1 for NA.

"She's a versatile player and we ask her to do a number of things on the court," Shall said. "We like to move her around."

Lucas said her team "did a nice job controlling Haus. That was our main goal coming into tonight.

"It's like a chess match out there. The average fan doesn't see it, but there's different lineups and different match ups from game to game."

Butler played without senior starters Brynn Maxwell and Chelsea Pallone, who missed the match because of illness. Junior varsity players Fallon Bachman and Katelyn Wetzel filled in.

Senior setter Amanda Huey, who entered the night with 239 assists and 19 aces on the year, and Druschel are receiving college looks. Druschel leads the Tornado with 96 kills and 83 blocks.

Butler has sent four volleyball players to college programs in the past two years: Becky Smith (Mercyhurst), Stephanie Mock (West Virginia), Katie Willison (Slippery Rock) and Samantha Harris (Westminster).

Butler's junior varsity dropped a 25-17, 26-24 decision Tuesday.

The Tornado play at Fox Chapel Thursday.