Friday, May 25
DISTRICT VOLLEYBALL
Ian RadcliffIntelligencer Journal Correspondent
Stephen Mummaw didn't exactly guarantee a victory before Thursday night's District Three quarterfinal match, but he sure played like he did.
Hempfield's 6-foot senior outside hitter, calm and confident in his pre-game preparations for Berks League champion Exeter, became a terror on the court, leading the Knights to a 15-7, 15-6 victory in Landisville.
The biggest key to the win, Mummaw said, was Hempfield setter Matt Baker's ability to continually put his hitters in unchallenged positions _ a simple game of exploiting a weak spot in the Eagles" rotation.
"Exeter's setter (Andrew Maynard) is kind of smaller and Baker pushed it out to me when he was out there,'" Mummaw said. "We knew if we didn't make a statement we were out of it."
The 5-foot-9 Maynard was nowhere near Mummaw with his block, and weak side help could never slide over in time. That added up to eight kills each for Mummaw and senior middle Ben Murray, who himself took a few more balls than normal on the outside.
Add to that mismatch a flawless service game and nose-to-the-ground defense and you have all the ingredients of an easy victory _ even against the fifth-ranked team in the state.
Hempfield jumped out 6-0 in the first game and was never really challenged, but the second game saw a different Exeter team. The Eagles hung tough, but with senior Tony Spangler serving at 8-6, Hempfield scored four straight, including two Murray kills and a kill and block by Mummaw. Exeter couldn't manage another point the rest of the way.
"I don't know if I'd call it the best match we played this year, but it's up there,'" Spangler said. "We made some stupid mistakes and I still think we can get better. Our coach was preaching to us that it's do-or-die right now and our season could be over. We all brought ourselves up and were very focused before the match."
The Knights" main focus was on Exeter's star 6-foot-4 outside hitter Andrew Olree, whom they were able to neutralize sufficiently. Olree was a non-factor with just three kills, and was frustrated all night by Hempfield's superior blocking.
"Exeter is a great team and they have a great kid in Olree,'" senior outside hitter Keith Maurer said. "We knew if we didn't come out 100 percent we would be the ones leaving upset."
That was also the sentiment of Hempfield coach Mike Vogel.
"We served away from Olree and served really tough,'" he said. "(Exeter) made more errors than we made, but their passing was on. They were three-passing balls off of some really tough serves. And we gave them points they didn't earn. We had a five-point run (in the first game) and they sort of crept back in. I don't think it was ever in doubt, though."
Manheim Township didn't fare as well in Thursday's quarterfinals. The L-L runner-up fell to York Area League champion York Suburban 15-5, 15-5. Trojan senior outside hitter Ryan Fisher, the only returning first-team all-stater in District Three, had 11 kills and four blocks in the match.
Suburban will face Chambersburg, a 15-12, 15-8 winner over Carlisle, in one semifinal, slated for 10 a.m. Saturday at Central York.
Hempfield, the state's top-ranked team, will face Northeastern _ a team it routed, 11-1, 11-5, at the Panther Classic last month, in the other semi, also at 10. Northeastern beat Cumberland Valley, 15-8, 9-15, 15-13 in the other quarterfinal at Hempfield.
Both semifinals will begin at 10 with the final and third-place match starting at noon.