Subject: back
to Chambersburg defeated Susquehannock 11-2-00
By CHRISSI PRUITT
Daily Record staff
As the fans and opposing team filed out, the Susquehannock volleyball players lingered. Maybe they were reliving missed opportunities. Or maybe they were trying to recapture the postseason that had just been cut short by Chambersburg.
The Warriors’ hopes of repeating as district and state champions were extinguished by the Trojans, 5-15, 15-11, 15-5, in Thursday night’s District 3 Class AAA quarterfinal match at Central York.
Despite taking the first game handily, the Warriors could not combat the offensive magic created by Chambersburg setter Steph Van Brakle and outside hitters Sarah Kriner and Lori Wilkinson.
“I think we were pretty confident that we would move on, but it didn’t happen,” said Susquehannock coach Eric Myers. “You can’t win them all, as they say.”
Myers said he is proud of how his team performed this season. After losing nine seniors from last season to graduation, people didn’t expect much from this year’s squad, he said.
“By every standard definition this was a successful season,” he said. “When you lose nine players, four of whom are all-state players, most teams don’t recover from that.”
But the words of praise from their coach weren’t enough to dry the tears from the Warriors’ eyes. Myers embraced each player and whispered words of encouragement to every one of them.
“They’ve got the down faces and the tears in their eyes, but I try to show them that I’m not going to be that way,” he said. “I show them that I hold my head high and say, ‘Hey, I am very proud of you guys.’
“I don’t want to buy into the whole thing that this was somehow disappointing. Yeah, in a sense you’re sorry to lose, but we exceeded expectations of everybody.”
In the first game, the Warriors jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead. Senior Liz Earll served the nine straight points to give Susquehannock the edge. With Megan Stadler at the net, Susquehannock only allowed the Trojans five points.
In the second game, Chambersburg took a 2-0 lead before granting the Warriors the serve. It was a back-and-forth battle, each team picking up a point or two on every possession. With the score tied 10-10, Jenny Schmutzler served for the Trojans. Stadler returned the ball, but a quick move by Van Brakle put the ball behind the Warrior defense and gave the Trojans an 11-10 edge.
Susquehannock came back on a serve from Steph Bedgar and tied the game, 11-11. The Trojans won the possession back and scored three straight points before Stadler drove a ball into a hole in their defense.
Leading 14-11, Van Brakle came up to serve and, with the help of a defensive error on the part of Susquehannock, won game point to send the match into a third game.
As the Trojans rolled, 15-5, it was a Van Brakle serve that again delivered on match point, giving Chambersburg the win and retribution. The Trojans were knocked out of the 1999 playoffs by Susquehannock.
“Last year we played them and they were awesome,” Van Brakle said. “This year was kind of like a revenge year. We wanted to get back at them. We came in here and we knew we could give them a great game and that was really all we wanted to do.”
Van Brakle attributed the Trojans’ struggles in the first game to nerves.
“I think it was the fact that there was so much noise in here and the whole atmosphere had an effect,” she said. “I told them that the blue lines were where we should be focusing. Anything outside of those lines was not important.”
Chambersburg will face Hempfield, which defeated Carlisle earlier in the evening, in the semifinals Saturday at Central York. Ironically, a key player who helped get the Trojans there will be absent from Saturday’s contest.
Van Brakle will be in Florida for a softball tournament Friday and Saturday and will be missing the semifinals as well as any shot Chambersburg may get at the finals. The tournament is a showcase for juniors and seniors for college scouts. Van Brakle said she will be checking in with coach Ty Frelin constantly.
“I’ll be calling Ty a lot on Friday and Saturday to see how they did,” she said. “They’re gonna do it — I can feel it.”