Wednesday, May 23
Ian RadcliffIntelligencer Journal
Correspondent
Hempfield's District Three Volleyball Tournament opening match was impressively similar to its L-L League championship last Thursday, but the Black Knights" last two looked a bit too much like their sluggish performance at leagues last Tuesday.
After overpowering Reading Central Catholic, 15-1, 15-4, the Knights coasted through Central York, 15-4, 15-9 and Cumberland Valley, 15-6, 15-7 in pool play Tuesday night at Hempfield.
Two big differences between this week and last became evident, however, according to Hempfield coach Mike Vogel. First, the competition is better, and second, the Knights were down and they responded well enough to come out of their hole without much effort.
"Lethargic _ that's a good word,'" Vogel said. "Sluggish, lackluster. The intensity level just wasn't up like it was Thursday. It's knowing the end result when they go out there. We know who the real tough teams are and I'm hoping we don't get somebody that will sneak up on us."
Cumberland Valley nearly did just that. It was 4-0 Eagles before Hempfield started playing, and despite giving up just two points the rest of the game, it was not easy. Not when you can't dictate the tempo.
"We're probably going to work on getting out faster,'" senior outside hitter Stephen Mummaw said. "There's been a trend, giving up four points before we start kicking it in. We need to try to eliminate that. If we get down, we just try to slow it up. We like it fast when we have control, but if they have the flow we need to slow it down."
Eventually, Hempfield was able to distance itself from CV accordingly, but the Eagles" defense continued to give the Knights fits. Senior middle Ben Murray had eight kills in the match, but could have easily had four or five more were it not for the best floor defense Hempfield has seen thus far.
"We were with them at the beginning and I don't know what happened, if they just decided that they were overwhelmed by Hempfield, or whether they were tired,'" CV coach Matt Evans said. "We get up a couple points and all of a sudden we get into cruise control, like we have it. And then (Hempfield) comes back with so much momentum, we can't recover. (The defense) is one thing I can be proud of."
Action around the rest of the district was not nearly as cut-and-dried as just one other L-L team advanced to the quarterfinals.
Manheim Township went 2-1 in Pool D at Dover and beat Susquehannock, 21-17, in a one-game playoff for second place. Chambersburg advanced as the pool's winner on point differential.
Warwick was eliminated after going 1-2 in Pool D at Central York. York Suburban moved on undefeated at 3-0, and Carlisle took second in the pool at 2-1.
At Wilson, Pool B saw Penn Manor and Cocalico eliminated at 1-2, despite the fact that Cocalico defeated Northeastern, which moves into the quarters as the first-place team from Pool B with a 2-1 record. Exeter also finished 2-1, its only loss coming at the hands of Northeastern, to place second.
This sets up a meeting between the state's top-ranked and fifth-ranked teams. Pool A champ Hempfield faces Exeter at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Hempfield. Northeastern and Cumberland Valley meet at 7:30 at Hempfield.
Township will take on York League champion York Suburban in the 7:30 game at Central York. Chambersburg and Carlisle take the court prior to Township-Suburban at 6:30.
Quarterfinal winners face off Saturday at Central York, and interestingly enough, only one of the two best teams in District Three _ that according to the PVCA poll _ will be there. Either Hempfield's or Exeter's season will be over after Thursday night.
"Exeter is a quality team, but let's face it,'" Vogel said. "We've played everybody and beaten everybody."
And that includes Exeter, which Hempfield beat twice at the Lake-Lehman tournament in April _ once in pool play and again in the final, 15-13, 15-8.