Hempfield's goals far from modest:

undefeated season and a state title

Keith Schweigert New Era Sports Writer

4-8-00

When someone asks Patrick Shawaryn about Hempfield’s goals for the volleyball season, he doesn’t even blink.

Shawaryn might seem a bit overconfident, but it’s hard to blame him - making the state playoffs has become an annual event at Hempfield. The Knights have reached the PIAA tourney in each of their last six seasons, and have won three state titles in that span.

"Our main goal is to win States, Districts and Leagues," says the senior middle hitter. "And we also want to go undefeated in match play."

Shawaryn might seem a bit overconfident, but it’s hard to blame him — making the state playoffs has become an annual event at Hempfield.

The Knights have reached the PIAA tourney in each of their last six seasons, and have won three state titles in that span.

Last year they made it all the way to the state. semifinals before they were tripped up by a tie-breaker that allowed Spring Grove to advance to the finals — even though the Rockets lost their pool-play quarter final match with Hempfield.

"It was frustrating," remembers senior setter Randy Paules. "But that’s volleyball. Anything can happen"

Hempfield lost just three players from last year’s team to graduation, and is loaded with a young, experienced group that’s eager to erase the memory of last year’s finish.

The Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches’ Association has already taken notice. It has ranked Hempfield No. 1 in every weekly poll since the season began.

According to head coach Mike Vogel, there’s a down side to being the state’s top-ranked team

I know everybody’s going to be gunning for us," he says. "When you start the season at No. 1, there’s nowhere to go but down, and it’s really hard to hold the No. 1 spot all season."

"(The ranking) really doesn’t mean much," says senior middle hitter Rob Fisher. "We were No. 1 almost all year last season, and we stumbled at he end and lost it. We can’t think about it."

But Shawaryn seems to relish the ranking. "I like it," he says. "I say let the other teams, come after us. I consider us to be the best team, but if some other team wants to beat us and say they're the best then I welcome them to come and try it."

No one’s had much luck so far.

The Knights have a 19-0 overall record in match play and are 5-0 in Lancaster-Lebanon league Section 1 action after Thursday night’s

victory over previously undefeated Cedar Crest.

Hempfield has already racked up two tournament

victories, winning the Black Knight Joust on March 25 and capturing the Wilson Tournament title last weekend.

The Knights have won 38 of 39 games this season. Their only loss was a 15-9 decision to Lake Lehman in the Wilson Tournament finals.

And they’ve done that without Paules, who has been sidelined with a broken leg for the second time in less than a year.

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Paules missed States last season when he broke his leg in the District 3 tournament. This year, he was injured during a pickup basketball game.

"It’s really hard, because I want to be in there," says Paules, who will miss at least four more weeks. "But (watching from the bench) gives me a totally new point of view. I can see how the team works without me, so when I get back in there I’ll know what everyone does

In the meantime, junior Matt Baker has stepped up to fill the void, just like he did last year.

There’s no shortage of players who can contribute, according to Vogel.

"We have a good team this year," he says. "We have a lot of depth. There are 12 kids on the varsity roster, and all of them contribute. Out of our five seniors, only three are playing right now, and the rest are juniors. That’s depth."

Despite the large roster, nobody worries about sharing time on the court, according to Shawaryn.

"Everybody knows his role," he says. "We know that you’ve got to earn your time, so we really go at it in practice."

In addition, the Knights’ substitutes are just as experienced as the starters, with two state tournament runs under their belts.

"The experience was important, because it taught us how to deal with pressure situations,"

Says Fisher. "We’ll get rid of the jitters early, and we’ll know how to react in a tough spot. You can’t teach that."

But there’s a long way to go before the postseason, says Vogel, and Hempfield can’t overlook anyone.

"There are a lot of quality teams out there," he points out. "On the west side of the state, there’s North Allegheny, Penn Hills, Derry, Montour and Maplewood. On the east side, North Penn, Parkland and Lake Lehman are always up there.

"Locally, there’re always teams like Penn Manor, ‘Warwick and Manheim Township, but the new kid on the block is Cedar Crest. They’ve been improving every year, and this year they have a lot of seniors. I don’t think they have our depth, but there’s a lot of good kids there."

Still, it looks like the only things that can prevent another Hempfield title run are injuries and

complacency. Injuries are the wildcard,"

"If we stay relatively healthy, we’ll be in good shape. The kids have their sights set on playing in the finals in June, but we have to pay attention to the weeks leading up to that."

"Anything can happen," adds Paules. "We’ve got to concentrate on the season and take it step by step."

But he seems determined to make sure the team doesn’t get caught looking ahead.

"Last year I didn’t get a chance to help in States, and it was really hard to watch," says Paules. "So this year it’s my goal to get back there and help the team win.