Shannock Valley defeated Farrell 15-4, 16-14 Saturday afternoon to win the PIAA Class AA championship, played at Shippens burg University's Heiges Field House.

In Class AAA, Mt. Lebanon defeated Villa Maria Academy, 2-0, for the championship. In the semifinals, Mt. Lebanon defeated Haverford 15-3, 15-9 to face Villa, which defeated Greensburg Salem 2- 1.

Shannock Valley defeated Northeastern 2-1 in the AA semifinals before facing Farrell, which swept Conneaut Lake 15-7, 15-3 to reach the finals.

In the finals, the Spartans took the first game against Farrell easily, 15-4, but nearly lost the second, as Farrell raced to a 14-10 lead. But six straight points gave the Spartans (25-0) of coach Mark Risko the victory and the school's initial state volleyball championship.

``We played well all day (Friday) and (in the semifinals), but then it was like rigor mortis set in,'' Morrison admitted. ``We just couldn't get it going.''

Morrison said that following the Steelerettes' semifinal victory, the 3- game Shannock Valley-Northeastern match, coupled with the AAA semis, created an approximately 3-hour-long delay before Farrell again took the court at 1 p.m.

``It's definitely something that hurt us,'' Morrison lamented.

``The kids played well. I have no complaints. They did a good job,'' Morrison praised. ``If we had just gotten going a little sooner. ... It was like the WPIALs all over,'' she said of the Steelerettes' (21-2) only other loss this season, also at the hands of Shannock Valley.

``Maybe if we had won that second game we'd have had a chance at it, but that's the way it goes,'' Morrison reasoned.

Morrison reported Farrell's 2-match statistical totals as follows: Dorothy Smith, 1 kill, 27 assists, 9 digs, 3 blocks; Sharanda Stinson, 14 kills, 17 assists, 16 digs, 3 blocks; Nicole Scott, 18 kills, 12 digs, 4 blocks; Lucretia Samuels, 8 kills, 18 digs, 2 blocks; Kisha Pegues, 3 kills, 12 digs, 4 blocks; Keturah Chambers, 1 kill, 10 digs, 1 block; Gina Falvo, 1 kill, 5 digs; Erika Houston, 1 dig; Tina Gardner, 1 dig.

``I was happy to be in the finals; we made it one step further than last year and that's a tribute to the seniors,'' Morrison summarized. ``They started their varsity careers by winning the state championship and were in the final game as seniors. The senior leadership of Lucretia, Kisha, Gina and Erika was outstanding. They had four great years of volleyball and I think they should've been pleased today that they were in state final game.

``Nobody likes to be second. Nobody remembers who finishes second, but it's better than all the rest of them that stayed home,'' Morrison concluded.