Friday, May 19, 2000
BOYS' VOLLEYBALL
Intelligencer Journal
Only two nights removed from its biggest win of the season over Cedar Crest, Cocalico managed to top itself Thursday.
The Eagles gutted out a 15-11, 15-12 semifinal sweatfest over Warwick, only to be trounced by Hempfield, 15-6, 15-5 in the L-L League boys' volleyball final at Ephrata Middle School.
If there is actually such a thing as a good loss, this was it.
A 7-3 regular-season finish in Section Two is not usually a precursor to playing in the league championship match, but Cocalico proved any doubters wrong about the section's talent _ and more specifically, their own talent.
Problem was, they ran into the best team in the state, which won its ninth L-L championship in the last 10 years.
Cocalico was simply no match for the Knights _ who beat Manheim Township, 15-7, 15-4 in the other semi _ and only time will tell if any other team in the state can match up talent-wise, depth-wise and experience-wise. Those glimmers of hope at 7-5 in the first game and at 4-4 in the second were just nasty little teasers before the real barrages began.
The most demoralizing of those barrages came with Hempfield up 9-4 in the second game, threatening to end the night once and for all.
Senior outside hitter Derek Shultz _ one of the best servers on a team chock full of great ones _ made the Eagles scramble just to get a touch on the ball. And when they did, it sailed over the net right into the path of Adam Greenawalt's lightning-quick swing. Happened three times in a row, and all three balls were sent through the floor by the senior middle.
"Adam has the fastest arm ever," Knight coach Mike Vogel said. "And the middle position is very difficult to play. As a coach, I don't care if the middles hit, I want them to block. There's a lot that goes on and there's not a lot of glory, except if you hit."
Greenawalt hit _ hard. He had six kills in the championship match, all in the second game, all taking advantage of Cocalico errors. His middle cohort, junior Ben Murray, led Hempfield with eight. Rob Fisher, another senior middle, had two big blocks of Eagle senior hitter Kris Lee.
"The key to our team is our three middles, but I only have two positions," Vogel said. "When Adam concentrates, he's unstoppable. The guy that's really added a new dimension to it is Murray. He's a tremendous athlete. It's power, power and brains."
As far as Cocalico is concerned, Thursday was a far cry from Tuesday's pool play when Hempfield won 15-1, 15-1. But as soon as that first big mistake cost Cocalico a point and some confidence, Hempfield knew exactly what to do with it. Still, it's been a remarkable run that's not over yet.
"Words can't explain how proud I am," Cocalico coach Sue Wood said. "I knew they had it in them all season, but they didn't show everyone else until (Thursday)."
In the third-place match, Warwick couldn't recover from its semifinal loss to Cocalico, falling to Manheim Township, 15-4, 15-12. Cedar Crest rebounded from a disappointing pool-play finish to take fifth place and the final district spot, 13-15, 15-13, 16-14 over Garden Spot in a match that lasted just a shade under two hours.
That sets the stage for the District Three Tournament, which opens Tuesday night. Hempfield will play the fifth-place team from the York Area League at Centerville Middle School beginning at 8 p.m. Manheim Township, the third seed from the L-L, will take on the Mid-Penn runner-up at 6:30 p.m., also at Centerville Middle School.
Cocalico will have to travel to the Mid-Penn champion's site to face the fourth team from the Berks League at 6:30 Tuesday. Warwick travels to the Berks champ Tuesday at 8, and Cedar Crest visits the York winner, also at 8.