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| (05/28/00
11:23:48) Berks
Scholastic - District 3 Volleyball By Steve Patton The result was a winless day for the Eagles at the District 3 boys volleyball championships Saturday, with 2-0 losses to the Black Knights in the semifinals and to New Oxford in the consolation game. "This team is so Jekyll-and-Hyde," said head coach Shawn Ganter after Exeter (19-6) was competitive in just one of its four games at Central York High. "And that's kind of been the story all year, I think. We can put it together for a while, but we're never really fluid all the way through." Senior setter Matt Davis agreed. The Eagles have been very, very good at times this season, as they were in reaching the championship game of the Lake-Lehman Tournament last month, or in their preliminary round district win over Dallastown Thursday. But when Exeter is off its game, as it was late in the regular season and against New Oxford Saturday, the Berks runner-up is not going to win many games at this level. "It's match to match," said Davis of the Eagles' inconsistency. "There are some matches where we play amazing, and the next match we'll come out flat." Saturday's performance was somewhere in between. The semifinal against Hempfield was a replay of Berks champ Wilson's match against the Black Knights in quarterfinal pool play Thursday. A team might be able to stay with the three-time state champions for a few points in the early going, but once the Black Knights analyze an opponent and get their game in gear, the winning points soon follow. That's what happened Saturday. The Eagles were tied at 2-2 and were within 6-4 in the first game after an Andrew Olree block. But then Patrick Shawaryn took over. The all-state outside hitter delivered his first of three aces to start his service, and Hempfield ran off nine straight points to win the game. Exeter made up a 4-0 deficit in the second game, an Olree kill and Jesse Zook block helping tie the score at 4-4. Again, Exeter didn't score another point. This time, it was Derek Shultz delivering eight straight service points to end the game, the final two coming on Shawaryn kills. "They're so good, it doesn't even make sense," said Ganter of Hempfield, which beat York Suburban 15-6, 15-12 for its fifth district title and is 62-0-1 in all matches this season. New Oxford is good, too. But the Eagles at least knew they could compete with the York League champion Colonials, having faced them in quarterfinal pool play Thursday, when they lost 15-12, 15-10. The Colonials (25-2) were also coming off a draining 8-15, 15-13, 6-15 loss to league rival York Suburban in the other semifinal. But it was Exeter that looked like the team that let down after a tough loss. New Oxford scored the first 10 points of the first game and won 15-3. Exeter played well for a stretch in the second game, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 9-3 lead, but allowed the Colonials to come back and regain control. New Oxford score the final five points for a 15-11 victory. "I don't think it was a letdown," said Ganter. "I think if anything, it was probably just lack of focus. That's what it seemed like. We were much more solid against Hempfield." Exeter, ranked 14th in the state, opens the PIAA Tournament at 9 a.m. Friday at Shippensburg University, and will need to rediscover its form. As the No. 4 team from District 3, the Eagles are in a pool with the District 7 and 10 champions and District 1 runner-up Council Rock. "We wanted to go to states this year," Davis said. "Maybe we wanted to be seeded a little higher than we are, but we'll just have to regroup this week and go out there and make a statement." "I don't think they're in it for the experience," said Ganter. "They're in it to try and make something out of all the hard work they've put into it the last two years. They're going to give it their best shot."
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