Three L-L League teams survived the elimination round of the District Three boys' volleyball tournament Tuesday.

The Knights, coming off a tough two-game win over Penn Manor in the L-L final, showed flashes of brilliance. But they also let their guard down at times and nearly let an undermanned Dover team back in the match.

"You can make a couple of mistakes and that's fine," Hempfield coach Mike Vogel said. "Part of it was that we had a new player back - (sophomore middle blocker Ben) Murray. That was the first time he played in two weeks and yesterday was the first time he practiced. That's a way to get a kid in. It's hard to sub others because our two outsides are expected to do so much."

One of them, senior Ryan Wood, lit the Eagles up for 11 kills. If there is any lingering pain in his broken right hand, it hasn't showed - Wood left more skin on the floor diving for balls than everyone else combined.

Even so, Hempfield's 8-1 second-game lead fizzled to 8-6. It took some big blocks on Dover OH Mark Senift (four kills), along with the calming influence of junior opposite Patrick Shawaryn to finally take care of business.

"The second game we let down a little," Shawaryn said. "Dover gave it to us and showed us they're a good team. We got our focus back after they ran and played the way we can play. We had to get our heads back in and play smart."

Cedar Crest had a much tougher time of it in the opener. The Falcons dug themselves a 0-4 hole in each game and didn't have the lead until well past the midpoint of the first and third games. Crest was able to claw back when it was needed, though, and hold off the Herd. Junior OH Chad Stokes came up huge down the stretch with three kills, two blocks and several key digs during Crest's 9-2 run to end the match.

That leaves Central York as the final team to join Hempfield, Cedar Crest and Exeter in Quarterfinal Pool A Thursday at Hempfield. The Panthers beat Antietam, 15-7, 15-12.

Two big upsets in the bottom half of the bracket have opened things up for Penn Manor. York Suburban, the fourth-place team from York, beat Mid-Penn champ Chambersburg, 8-15, 15-6, 16-14 and Berks runner-up Wilson ended New Oxford's season with a 15-9, 4-15, 15-9 win. Spring Grove, the No. 2 team in the state, rounds out Pool B, which will be held at Central York. Both pools begin play at 4 p.m.

The top two teams advance to the District Three semifinals, 10 a.m. Saturday at Central York. All four advancing teams will also qualify for the PIAA Championships next weekend at Shippensburg.

While Cedar Crest will have yet another shot at Hempfield Thursday, it's the Knights' rematch with Central York that's crucial.

"Central York is incredible, Cedar Crest is good," Shawaryn said. "It's not going to be an easy night. We can't look past (Thursday)."

It's the same Central York team that gave Hempfield its first loss this season, 15-4, at Central's tournament last month. Hempfield responded the very next weekend at Warwick's tourney, thrashing the Panthers, 11-4, 11-3.

"Obviously, they nailed us," Vogel smiled. "But we played them after that and we did the same to them."

That sets the stage for the rubber match, which may decide who goes to states and who goes home.