Mt. Lebanon falls short in bid
for PIAA title
By Ryan Buncher Back to SportsLIVE...
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Hempfield used a deep serve, referred to as a Tempo two, to beat Mt. Lebanon,
12-15, 15-8, 15-11, for the state championship Saturday at Shippensburg
University's Heigel Field House. Mt. Lebanon finished its season, 22-2.
"They just played better overall," Mt. Lebanon senior Keven Wentzel
said. "The tempo-two serve, the ball moves so much that you have no idea
where it is going. It's really hard to react to."
"Every time we needed an answer, we had one," Hempfield coach Mike
Vogel said.
Vogel said he knew his team, which finished, 28-0, would have to win with its
service game. The Black Knights had trouble defending Wentzel and middle
blocker Layne Dreven, when the Blue Devils were able to run their offense.
Dreven finished the match with 17 kills.
"We couldn't stop them in their set offense," Vogel said. "I
don't think anybody can stop Mt. Lebanon when they are in system. We were
trying to get them out of system and that's what we did with our serve. We got
them in transition and ran the ball down their throats."
"We were prepared for them to serve it deep like that, but they were just
some great serves," Mt. Lebanon coach Rick Walsh said. "They took us
totally out of our system by their serve. We had trouble responding, especially
at the end."
Vogel said the key was avoiding serving to Wentzel, a Penn State reruit who is
an excellent passer.
"As soon as he wasn't passing, they were out of their system," Vogel
said.
He also focused on defending Wentzel, often shifting a taller middle blocker
out on him. Setter Jason Krugh was able to turn to Travis Bluemling, Andrew
Villa and Andrew Joyce at times, but not often enough.
Joyce, played a day after dislocating the pinky finger on his right hand.
"He was in a lot of pain," Walsh said. "I give him a lot of
credit for that."
Hempfield got plenty of offense from Ben Murray and Tony Spangler. The Blue
Devils never did find an answer for Murray, who had 19 kills. Spangler had six
kills in the decisive third game.
"He's a great player," Wentzel said of Murray. "He's really
quick."
Mt. Lebanon had never even made the semifinals in school history before this
season, and nearly didn't make it past that round. The Blue Devils split the
first two games with defending state chamion Maplewood, and trailed in the
third game, 14-8, before rallying to win, 17-15.
"We responded against a great Maplewood team," Walsh said. We have
great leadership and character. The seniors really stepped up."
Upper St. Clair could not do the same in its semifinal match against Hempfield,
losing, 15-11, 15-8, to drop to, 18-4, on the season. Upper St. Clair led, 10-6,
in the first game, but Hempfield rallied and the Panthers never recovered.
"You've got to maintain that game intensity the whole time," Upper
St. Clair coach Jack Zebo said. "When you go against teams as good as
Maplewood, Mt. Lebanon or Hempfield and you have any letdown at all, they will
jump on you."
It was Upper St. Clair's first trip to the state playoffs.
"We had a great season," said Upper St. Clair middle blocker Nate
Meersteen, another Penn State recruit. "We made it to the final
four."
The championship match was Walsh's last as a coach. He is resigning after seven
seasons as the Blue Devils' head coach to spend more time with his family.
Walsh almost stepped down before the season.
Mt. Lebanon never missed the WPIAL playoffs in those seven years, and has made
states the last five years, winning WPIAL championships in 1997, '98 and this
season.
"It's my final match, as well as the seniors," Walsh said. "I'm
proud of their accomplishments. Mt. Lebanon has never gone this far before.
"I found I was spending more time with other people's children than my
own."
PIAA boys volleyball championships
Championship match
Hempfield (District 3) 2, Mt. Lebanon 1
Semifinals
Mt. Lebanon 2, Maplewood 1
Hempfield 2, Upper St. Clair 0