Daily Record correspondent
York Suburban defeated Schuylkill Valley 15-9, 15-7 Tuesday at Wilson High School to advance to the quarterfinal round of the District 3 Class AAA boys volleyball tournament.
York Suburban will join Hempfield, Manheim Township and Wilson in pool "A" play, which begins at 4 p.m. Thursday at Hempfield High School.
Wilson defeated Warwick 15-11, 15-12 in its preliminary-round match. Defending champion Hempfield overwhelmed Spring Grove 15-1, 15-3. Manheim Township topped Central Dauphin 15-11, 15-4.
Chambersburg edged Central York 16-14, 10-15, 15-10 to advance to the quarterfinals. Antietam, Exeter and New Oxford will join Chambersburg in pool "B" at Central York High School, also scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Antietam swept Cocalico 15-7, 15-10 while Exeter defeated Dallastown 15-9, 15-8. New Oxford held on to beat Cedar Crest 15-7, 16-14.
Meanwhile, rain pushed back the start of the District 3 baseball playoffs for a second straight day. All games will be played today at their originally scheduled sites and times.
The delay means that first-round winners will move directly into Thursday’s quarterfinal round rather than having two days between games.
The opening of the district softball playoffs also was delayed by the weather. All first-round games were postponed until today. Sites and times remained the same.
Return to the top | Local Sports | Volleyball
By JEFF DEWEES
Daily Record correspondent
NEW OXFORD — The chasm that exists between a team hoping it can win and a team knowing it can is monumental.
The contrast was on vivid display Tuesday night at New Oxford High School in the first round of the District 3 boys volleyball playoffs.
In the one corner, the Dallastown Wildcats, making their first district playoff appearance in years. The Wildcats had a successful season under coach Steve Covert, finishing 7-3 in the YAIAA, good enough for third place. But the district playoffs presented a whole different ballgame, one to which Covert’s players were unaccustomed.
In the other corner, the host New Oxford Colonials completed a dream undefeated season, running up a 10-0 record in league play en route to a 20-1 season overall and a No. 2 ranking in District 3. The Colonials’ approach all regular season was to use the games as a tune-up for the playoffs.
And on Tuesday, play on the court reflected the difference between the two programs.
The Wildcats’ season ended with a 15-9, 15-8 loss to Exeter of the Berks County League. Meanwhile, the Colonials advanced to the second round by taking care of Lancaster-Lebanon League entrant Cedar Crest in an exciting 15-7, 16-14 match.
Colonials coach Mike O’Brien noted the coolness with which his kids operated.
"We’re extremely disciplined," O’Brien said. "From the way they dress to the way they act on the court. I just think we have a really good group of kids. They never get rattled. They play with heart and emotion, but they don’t show it on the court."
New Oxford enters the second round pool-play format slated for Thursday evening at Central York. It’s a format O’Brien prefers.
"I don’t like this cut-throat, first-round format," he said. "But that’s the way it is. With pool play, it’s much more relaxing. You can lose a game here or there and not be done."
New Oxford broke a first game 7-7 tie on B.J. Lawrence’s five service points, giving the Colonials a 12-7 edge. After three sideouts, the Colonials’ Mark Hagerman finished off the Falcons with three straight winners.
The second game proved to be more difficult for New Oxford. After the Colonials blew out to an 11-5 lead, Cedar Crest showed grit in battling back with its season on the brink. Behind the serves of Shane Gingerich, Cedar Crest rallied to within 11-10.
New Oxford got what it thought was breathing room at 13-11, but the Falcons ripped off three straight points under pressure for a 14-13 lead.
The Colonials dug in and turned to senior Mark Hagerman, who was having an outstanding match. With Cedar Crest serving for the game, Hagerman placed an unreturnable winner to give serve back to his team with a chance to put the game away.
The server was Hagerman. He coolly placed three tough serves and let his front line do the rest. At 15-14, Dan Smith dropped a soft winner, and round one was conquered.
"I would hope my teammates would turn to me in that situation," Hagerman said. "I looked around when it was 13-14, and I just sensed that this would be the final points I’d play in this gym. I knew it would be."
Dallastown played Exeter tough in the opener for the first half of both games but ran out of steam down the stretch. Trailing one game to none and their season on the line in game two, the Wildcats were even with the Eagles 7-7, before the roof caved in. Exeter went on an 8-0 service run to close out the Wildcats.
Covert blamed it on a loss of focus, mixed with inexperience.
"This is the first time that Dallastown has been to districts in years," he said. "I tried to stress to them that playing in districts is a whole ’nother ballgame. We talked about it but nothing replaces experiencing it.
"I thought they were shell-shocked once they got here. Their eyes got big."
Dallastown was led by Chris Kraft, who had an outstanding game in defeat. The senior had nine kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace in his final high school match. Matt Bahn added eight kills, four blocks and two digs, while Aaron Schmitt, another senior, had four kills, four blocks and an ace. Playmaker Erik Landis, the third key Dallastown senior, had 25 assists.