It's another to know what to do afterword.

The other Lancaster-Lebanon League team competing in States didn't fare as well as Hempfield. Penn Manor lost to defending PIAA champ Souderton 1-15, 15-11, 11-15 in its first match, defeated Taylor Alderdice 15-4, 15-2 in its second match and was blown out 2-15, 3-15 by Montour in its final match.

After going 1-2 in pool play, the Comets were eliminated.

The Knights advanced to today's quarterfinals. Joining Hempfield in Pool E of the quarterfinals were District 3 runner-up Spring Grove, District 1 runner-up Lower Merion and District 7 runner-up Montour.

First up today for Hempfield was Spring Grove, which finished second in Pool C on Friday. Lower Merion, which finished second in Friday's Pool D, was slated to face the Knights after that, and Montour, which won Pool B, was the Knights' third scheduled foe.

The top two teams in each of the two quarterfinal pools advanced to this afternoon's semifinals. The championship game was slated for 3 p.m.

In Friday's opening match, Hempfield cruised through its first game with Mt. Lebanon, ripping the Blue Devils 15-7. But in the second game, the Devils jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back, dominating the Knights 15-4.

Hempfield never got in snyc in the second game, as its normally crisp passes and accurate serves seemed to be off the mark.

"That game was just terrible," said Hempfield coach Mike Vogel. "We couldn't pass, we couldn't serve, we couldn't hit. We couldn't do anything right. But the best part about it is it happened all in one game."

A factor in the Knights' struggles was the absence of starting setter Randy Paules, who injured his left ankle in last weekend's District 3 championships.

Paules, who runs the Hempfield offense, was replaced in the lineup by sophomore Matt Baker, and it took a little while for the Knights to get used to the change.

"We came out struggling early on," said senior co-captain Jared Seibert. "Randy didn't play, so that affected our offense. But the rest of the team stepped up and helped out the guys that were setting, and by the end I think we got used to each other and comfortable enough that we could pull through."

But it took a spirited pep talk from Vogel between games to get the Knights refocused. The first-year coach exhorted his team to stay sharp in the third and deciding game.

"I had to scream and holler a little bit," Vogel admitted. "That's probably the first time all year I had to do that. I told them that this was the state championship - everybody here is good. I said they couldn't afford to lose their edge. If they did, they'd get beat."

Whatever he said must have worked.

After spotting Mt. Lebanon a 1-0 lead in the third game, Hempfield ripped off 11 straight points off the service of Seibert to take control, eventually coasting to a 15-7 triumph.

After that, the Knights appeared to get in a groove. They knocked off District 2 runner-up Tunkhannock 15-11, 15-7 in their second match and buried District 4 champion Altoona 15-9, 15-4 in their final match.

"Altoona was our best match of the day," said Seibert. "We got excited for that and played with more heart that we did all day, and I think that shows in the scores."

It also shows that it didn't take the Knights long to get used to Baker at setter.

The adjustment was so seamless that Vogel was questioning his practice strategy leading up to States.

"All week we were working under the assumption that Randy would be back," Vogel said. "I didn't want to work on things with Baker at setter, because we figured if we did that and Randy came back, it would defeat the purpose. Timing between the passes and the sets is important for us because we're not big.

"Today was the day where we'd find out if Baker could run the offense. I thought he did a good job once everybody got used to each other."

It might be a moot point today, because Paules was back in the lineup in the second Altoona game and appeared ready to go.

"Randy didn't feel comfortable this morning," Vogel said. "We made the decision (at the end of the Altoona match) to get him in so he could say "Hey, I can do this.'

SHIPPENSBURG - It's kind of ironic that Hempfield got one of its biggest performances from its smallest player.

The game scores may not show it, but it took a while for Hempfield to get going. Even after practicing with a new setter this week, the rhythm just wasn't quite there at first. The Knights' raw talent carried them through the morning.

"The first two matches, I wanted to go back to the hotel and start a new day," Hempfield senior outside hitter Ryan Wood said. "We were just uncomfortable. A lot of it had to do with timing."

"I told them that - they knew (their timing) was going to be off," Hempfield coach Mike Vogel said. "Make the adjustment."

Needless to say, they did. The Knights put District Two runnerup Tunkhannock away with relative ease and the momentum carried into their last match, against District Six champion Altoona.

It didn't hurt, though, that Paules dressed for that match and saw some significant playing time. The team's response was immediate, and he seemed to take Hempfield out of cruise-control mode singlehandedly.

"It's unbelievable how much motivation he can bring," Wood said. "Just his presence on the court lifted our spirits. Your setter's kind of like your quarterback. If you're not playing with your starting quarterback ... you can't, really."

"I was really happy getting in there," Paules said following the match, icing down his injured left ankle. "I was off all week and just practiced yesterday to get used to playing with a little injury."

Paules said he's at about 70 percent, and that's good news for the Knights considering the severity of his injury. But as Vogel has said all year, someone always seems to step up - that was the case yet again Friday, and it may have to be the case one last time today.

"If Woody goes down, what are you going to do? Someone else is going to come up," he said. "Paules went down, Baker steps up. He played admirably."

The other L-L League team that made it to Ship didn't fare as well. Penn Manor went 1-2 in Pool B and was eliminated. Souderton survived the Comets, 15-1, 11-15, 15-11 in the first match, and Montour overwhelmed Manor in the last, 15-2, 15-3.

Penn Manor's 15-4, 15-2 win over Pittsburgh City League champs Allderdice was sandwiched between the losses.

"We were very satisfied coming out of (the Souderton match)," Comet senior OH/S Jarod Staub said. "It's not like we lost to a bad team. We came a long way. We have a lot of young guys and they played really well. It was a good year."

There's still a lot of volleyball left for the state's final eight teams. Quarterfinal pool play begins this morning at 9 when Hempfield takes on Pool C runnerup Spring Grove, which the Knights beat in the District Three final. Hempfield will face Pool D runnerup Lower Merion at 10:30 a.m. and Pool B winner Montour battles the Knights at noon.

Pool D winner North Allegheny, Pool C winner Emmaus, Pool A second-place Altoona and Pool B second-place Souderton make up the other quarterfinal pool. The top two teams from the two pools advance to the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. The state championship match will be at 3 p.m.

"We're going to be playing against teams that are all senior dominated," Vogel said. "(Lower Merion) was second in the state last year - and they were all juniors. They're hungry."

Serving has kept the outsized Knights from being fodder for bigger teams. Hempfield has served the life out of its opponents, not only Friday, but throughout last week's District Three tournament. But with the tight setup of three of the four courts at Heiges Field House, the Knights won't be able to utilize their deep service game, and that has Vogel a bit worried.

"Maybe it's an excuse, but ask the teams we played in the past week and a half," he said.

Excuse or not, the fact is it will take more than a solid service game to make it to this afternoon. The eventual state champ will have to play five matches, win at least four of them, including the last two, in a matter of eight hours.

It's a tall task for a healthy player, let alone one with an injured ankle.