Top seeds: No. 1 Deer Lakes (16-0), No. 2 Chartiers-Houston (16-0), No. 3 Riverside (15-0) and No. 4 Seton-LaSalle (12-1)

Favorite: Both Deer Lakes and Chartiers Houston are defending WPIAL champions, with Deer Lakes winning in Class AA last season and Chartiers Houston winning in Class A a year ago. With the Buccaneers moving up it is tough to decide who the favorite is. The nod goes to the Buccaneers a program who has won eight WPIAL titles including the prior two in Class A. Last year was Deer Lakes first ever WPIAL championship.

Breakdown: The Class AA playoff field is top-heavy like few WPIAL playoff brackets in recent memory. The top three seeds are all undefeated. No. 4 seed Seton-LaSalle was a perfect 10-0 in section play. Chartiers-Houston has not lost a game to a WPIAL team since March 29, 2012. Deer Lakes has not lost to a WPIAL team since May 1, 2012. Riverside won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2008 and 2009. The Lancers will be the only team to receive a bye in Class AA. Everyone else will begin first round play on Tuesday May 14 at neutral sites. Only one team has scored on Riverside all season, Mohawk, they scored six total runs against the Panthers over two games.

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Top seeds: No. 1 Neshannock (15-2), No. 2 Burgettstown (15-4), No. 3 Carmichaels (18-2) and No. 4 Frazier (16-2)

Favorite: With two-time defending WPIAL Class A champion Chartiers-Houston moving up to Class AA this season, the WPIAL Class A title was seemingly up for grabs this season. Then defending PIAA Class AA champion Neshannock moved down to Class A. The Lancers are now a favorite in an extremely deep Class A field.

Breakdown: Neshannock gets the easy nod of the No. 1 seed but the WPIAL selection committee gave both Carmichaels and Frazier a top four seed. The Mighty Mikes and Commodores split the Section 2 title in the regular season. No. 1 Neshannock and No. 2 Burgettstown receive first-round byes, all other teams will begin first-round action on Thursday May 16 at neutral sites. No. 5 Sto-Rox (13-4) finished second to Burgettstown in Section 1 but the Vikings received a higher seed than Section 3 co-champs No. 6 Jeannette (10-2) and No. 7 Leechburg (10-2). Sto-Rox coach Bill Palermo is in his final season. He is the all-time winningest coach in WPIAL softball history. The Vikings will try to send him out a winner.

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Below is a review of the All Around posts that appeared the week of May 5-11

Please note that the reviews this week will include Saturday, May 4

Saturday May 4
* Quaker Valley girls' lacrosse coach touts new headgear
* Notable names among top boys' lacrosse teams in national rankings

Sunday, May 5
* Week In Review Index Update for May 5, 2013
* Mike White's high school notebook (May 5, 2013)
* Week in Photos: High School Sports Moments (Week of April 28-May 4)

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The playoff fields for the WPIAL boys volleyball playoffs have been set, as 12 teams have qualified in each class. The top four teams in each section qualify.

The last team out was Butler in Section 2-AAA. Butler upset Fox Chapel, 3-1, on May 7, then lost 3-0 to Seneca Valley on the final night of the season. Butler and Seneca Valley tied for fourth place in the section with a 6-6 record, but Seneca Valley qualifies with its two wins over Butler.

The WPIAL Volleyball Steering Committee will meet Monday, May 13, to determine the brackets. The playoffs will begin Tuesday, May 14.

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