Wednesday, May 24
By Keith Schweigert
New Era Sports Writer
Mike Vogel
District 3 Volley-ball Lancaster New Era
The Hempfield boys' volleyball team started its run through the District 3 playoffs with another impressive victory Tuesday night, knocking off Spring Grove 15-1, 15-3 in the opening round at Centerville Middle School.
The victory improved the Black Knights' record to a sparkling 56-0-1 this season. The only blemish on their record is a tie with Central Bucks West during pool play in a non-league tournament.
The win also advanced Hempfield to the pool play segment of the district tourney. The Knights are in Pool A, along with Wilson, York Suburban and L-L League foe Manheim Township _ a 15-11, 15-4 winner of Central Dauphin Tuesday at Centerville.
"It's going to be a tough pool," said Hempfield coach Mike Vogel this morning. "There are some good teams out there."
Pool B is made up of Mid-Penn League champion Chambersburg, Antietam, Exeter and New Oxford.
The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals, which will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Central York. The finals and the consolation game are scheduled for noon.
All four semifinalists also earn a berth in the PIAA tournament, scheduled for next Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.
Hempfield won state titles in 1994, '96 and '97.
Tuesday's convincing victory over Spring Grove didn't come as a surprise to Vogel.
"The kids were on a mission," he said. "Last year we beat Spring Grove in the district finals, and after the game their kids were saying they were still the better team. Then we met them in States, and beat them again with our second-string setter."
Of course, Spring Grove shook off the loss to the Knights in the PIAA tourney and made it all the way to the finals last year, while Hempfield, which lost due to tiebreaking criteria in the semifinals, watched from the sidelines.
With all that baggage looming in the background, Vogel couldn't have asked for a better opponent to start the postseason, even though the Rockets only had one player back from last season.
"When I saw we had Spring Grove in the first round I couldn't wait to get going," Vogel said. "I knew we'd be fired up for them. As a coach, you forget about things that happen in the past, but the kids never do.
"They just wanted to remind Spring Grove who's the better team."
The answer to that question was apparent from the get-go on Tuesday. Hempfield jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against the Rockets and quickly extended their advantage to 9-0 on six straight service winners by Rob Fisher.
Hempfield was up 12-0 before Spring Grove got on the scoreboard, and the Knights quickly closed out the game with three more points.
In Game 2, Hempfield spotted the Rockets a 3-1 lead before reeling off 14 unanswered points to complete the sweep.
"The only mistakes we made (Tuesday night) ended up being points for Spring Grove," said Vogel. "Other than those few errors, we were perfect."
Now the Knights turn their attention to pool play on Thursday. Hempfield has beaten Township three times this season _ including a victory in last week's league playoffs _ and has knocked off York Suburban in a non-league tournament earlier this year.
The Knights haven't crossed paths with Wilson yet.
"We can't start looking ahead now," said Vogel, whose team won District 3 crowns in 1991, '94, '97 and '99. "We need at least two more wins to get to States. Once we get those wins, the pressure comes off somewhat, but we have to stay focused on that." In the opener at Centerville, Manheim Township shrugged off a slow start to finish off Central Dauphin. Nic Stayer and Greg Leed each had five kills to lead the Streaks, while Stayer also posted three blocks.
The Blue Streaks and the Black Knights were the only teams from the Lancaster-Lebanon League to advance to the pool play competition of the quarterfinals.
Warwick lost two straight games to Wilson by scores of 15-11 and 15-12. The Warriors led in both matches, but could not hold off the Bulldogs attack. Nate Wertch had 13 kills for the Warriors and Chris Knepper added four blocks.
Cocalico could not stop the Genova brothers of Antietam as they lost 2-0, dropping games of 15-7 and 15-10. Ryan Genova had 11 kills, three aces and five digs for Antietam and his brother David added 20 assists. Jesse Weaver led the Eagles with six kills and Nate Matz added two blocks.
Cedar Crest was beaten 2-0 by host New Oxford, 15-7, 16-14.