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| Trib South & West - Sports -
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Mt. Lebo, USC can’t get past
Hempfield
By Ryan Buncher http://triblive.com/tribsouthwest/index.html
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The Black Knights ended both teams' hopes of winning a state title.
Hempfield (28-0) beat Upper St. Clair (17-4) in the semifinals, then defeated
WPIAL champion Mt. Lebanon (20-2) in the state championship match.
Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon shared more than that this weekend. The
neighbors both finished seasons in which they went farther than any other team
in school history.
Upper St. Clair finished fourth in the WPIAL tournament, making states for the
first time in school history, then beat City League champion Allderdice in the
first round of the PIAA tournament.
"This team has been the greatest I've been a part of coaching or
playing," Upper St. Clair coach Jack Zebo said. "I have enjoyed
working with them so much. It is a quality bunch of guys that do everything
right."
"We had a great season," senior middle blocker Nate Meerstein said.
"We made the final four. We are definitely happy with the season."
The Panthers featured tremendous size in the middle with 6-9 Meerstein and 6-9
sophomore Andrew Atman. Meerstein, a Penn State recruit, is was a second-team
All-WPIAL selection along with outside hitter Jordan Truchek.
Setter Brian Julius and outside hitter Phil Kondrot were first-team picks.
Kondrot is walking on at Penn State and Julius chose to focus on academics and
go to Virginia Tech, which has only a club team.
"We play really well together," Meerstein said. "Brian Julius
was a huge part of it. He's not the one hitting balls, but we were nothing
without him."
Mt. Lebanon also surrounded an all-WPIAL setter, senior Jason Krugh, with
excellent height and a strong group of hitters, albeit a little more of an
athletic group.
The Blue Devils have two 6-6 middle blockers - junior Layne Dreven and senior
Andrew Joyce. Dreven and outside hitters Kevin Wentzel and Andrew Villa joined
Krugh on the all-WPIAL first team. Sophomore Travis Bluemling made the second
team.
"We just have a lot of athletes," Wentzel said. "We have a lot
of experience, too. We have a lot of seniors. We're tall. We're athletic. We
are more physical than most teams at the net."
That allowed Mt. Lebanon to reach the PIAA championship match for the first
time in school history.
"We're happy with what we've done this year," Wentzel said. "The
whole ride this year was great. We are excited we made this final match. We've
never been here before. We set a new bar for our school."
Mt. Lebanon had two Division I recruits. Krugh is going to Ball State and
Wentzel is headed to Penn State.
"We tried to keep the ball from him," Hempfield coach Mike Vogel
said. "He just stuck out in my mind. We had six guys trying to stop
(Wentzel). It took six of us to do it.
"(Dreven) is also an exceptional player."
In addition to losing four senior starters, Mt. Lebanon will have to replace
head coach Rick Walsh.
Walsh actually was not going to come back for this season. Brian Begor was
going to take over as an emergency replacement until Walsh decided to come
back. Begor, a veteran coach who had been a college assistant at Nebraska and
Pitt, remained as an assistant. Begor said he had not put any thought into
applying to take Walsh's place.
Mt. Lebanon made the WPIAL playoffs in all of Walsh's seven seasons as head
coach, winning WPIAL championships in 1997, '98 and this season. The Blue
Devils made states the last five consecutive seasons.
"I'm done coaching," Walsh said. "I've got two little ones at
home. My daughter is three and my son is 10 months. I have probably seen them
two hours this week. I find myself spending more time with other people's
children than my own and I needed to make changes.
"Brian Begor really helped with the transition working with me. He's been
fantastic helping develop our players."
The team has some depth and will rebuild around Dreven and Bluemling.
"I think we have a lot of talent (in the program)," Walsh said.
"I am hoping next year I'll be in the stands here rooting on Mt.
Lebanon."