SHIPPENSBURG - The Hempfield Black Knights' fate was decided during the final quarterfinal match of the day.

All three teams finished 2-1 in Pool E, so the team with the best winning percentage in total games played would be declared the pool champion.

Spring Grove, which lost to Hempfield, 15-8, 5-15, 15-10, beat Lower Merion, 15-13, 15-10, with the Knights watching attentively. That win followed a two-game win over Montour, giving the Rockets a game record of 5-2. Lower Merion beat Hempfield, 15-7, 15-5, and hammered Montour in two as well, finishing 4-2. Hempfield's final match, a 15-9, 15-13 win over Montour, gave the Knights a 4-3 record.

So, Spring Grove won Pool E by virtue of its 5-2 record. For the two teams left - Hempfield and Lower Merion - it came down to their head-to-head meeting. That meant Merion moved on and the Knights went home.

"I've never finished a season being eliminated by a win," Hempfield senior outside hitter Ryan Wood said.

That last win was the fifth of the weekend for Hempfield. Only one other team - North Allegheny (which won the state title later Saturday by beating Spring Grove 2-1 in the championship series) - won as many (six) through pool play, and the Knights did it without setter Randy Paules. The junior started the Spring Grove match but was unable to go the rest of the way.

"That was a big factor," Knight senior Jesse Porreca said. "I'm not saying if he played, we would have won, but I think we would have had a better shot at advancing. (Matt) Baker did a heck of a job, and (Jered) Seibert and I did all right stepping in there. We played decent, but it's totally different without Randy."

While Paules' presence most certainly would have made a difference, the three-headed reserve setter - Baker, Seibert and Porreca - put in solid performances. After keeping sets primarily on the outside to Wood, junior OH Derek Shultz and junior opposite Patrick Shawaryn Friday, the three mixed it up more Saturday, setting more middle balls, giving junior middle hitters Rob Fisher and Adam Greenawalt, and sophomore Ben Murray scoring chances.

"You couldn't ask anything more out of those guys," an emotional Wood said of the setters. "They came in - never set before in their lives - in the state championships."

At the outset, it looked as if everything would be back to normal for the Knights. Paules was in, and they handled game one against Spring Grove, which Hempfield beat in the District Three final just a week ago. But Paules reaggravated his ankle and the Rockets blew Hempfield away in the second game. It was do-or-die time.

"We had some great senior leadership," Knight coach Mike Vogel said. "We played Spring Grove pretty much without a setter in that third game. I thought Baker played extremely well. He made a believer out of a lot of people."

In the second match, Hempfield ran into a smoldering Lower Merion team, fresh off a thumping of Montour. After handling Montour themselves, the Knights then had to just sit and wait.

"I thought we played very well today, with our two sophomores (Murray and Baker) in there," Vogel said. "We beat the team that won our pool, and Lower Merion just played an incredible match. That clearly came back to haunt us."

In the final matches of his career, Wood had 28 total kills. Shultz, who was a stellar complement to Wood on the outside all season, had 20. Shawaryn had 14 kills and eight blocks, Murray and Fisher 11 kills each, and Greenawalt 10.

"I think it was a respectable way to go out," Seibert said. "For not having a setter and losing only one match in the state championships - I think that's very respectable. It's tough, it's a shame, but that's the way it goes. Somebody's got to lose."

Even though the Knights were denied their fourth state title in six years, the season was not at all a down one. The loss to Lower Merion was Hempfield's first match defeat of the season. Seibert put Saturday's disappointment in perspective in the typical fashion of the team he co-captained.