By Ara Grigorian
The Section Two title in girls' volleyball came down to a tiebreaker match on Friday, October 23 between Garden Spot and Conestoga Valley.
The two teams had finished the Lancaster-Lebanon League regular season with 9-1 records and had split the two head-to-head matches.
When the final serve was made and the match point recorded, it was Conestoga Valley that had prevailed 3-0 over the defending Section Two champion Spartans.
As a matter of fact, the match, that was played at Centerville Middle School's gym, was preceded by another tiebreaker match. Yes, Section Three needed to be decided between Lancaster Mennonite and Manheim Central. That match went five games with Lancaster Mennonite winning it 3-2.
"They played right before us in the same gym," Conestoga Valley head coach Amber Thomas said. "So, there was a lot of electricity and intensity in the gym and we fed off that."
The Lady Bucks eked out victories of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-23 to take the section crown away from the Spartans. It was a championship that had belonged to Conestoga Valley perennially until a couple of years ago when the Spartans laid claim to it in successive seasons.
"Hopefully, it's the first of many titles," Thomas said as her team prepares for the L-L League playoffs and a shot at the league title as well. Conestoga Valley will actually host the playoff matches, which open on Monday, October 26.
So, with two teams so closely matched up throughout the season, what was going to tip the scales in one's favor?
"I think the difference was the team that came out on fire and wanted it more," Thomas said. "I know that our girls were both physically and emotionally ready to play. I knew they were ready to play as soon as we got to the gym."
Junior Linde Crills led the team in kills and aces. She served up four aces and notched 10 kills. In addition, Crills and senior Brittany Stambaugh each had one block.
"Linde Crills had a pretty amazing game," Thomas commented. "She led us in kills, aces and blocks. She got everyone fired up.
"Our other middle hitter Heather Long had a great hitting night," added the coach. "Whatever she hits, she really brings on the heat."
The accolades by the first-year head coach went on.
"Our libero Ally Stoltzfus had a great game on Friday night," she said. "We did some scouting on Garden Spot and knew what to expect. She really stepped up her game.
"Heather Martin also had a great game," Thomas continued. "I told her that she needed to take charge more on the offensive side hitting the ball more and she did.
"All around we played well together," the coach summed up. "Courtney Allen, our lone sophomore, played a great game and had some key kills and nice defensive play as well."
SOCCER
The Buckskins had already defeated Hempfield and Manheim Township earlier in the regular season.
So, their L-L League semi-final match against Hempfield on Thursday would have been presumed to be a classic battle.
In the opener of a twin bill played at Penn Manor's Comet Field, the Buckskins and Black Knights had just such a match. When the dust had settled, Hempfield was the team that had prevailed in a match that required all five rounds of penalty kicks before a victor could be announced. Thus the Black Knights advanced to the league title match against Manheim Township. In the nightcap of the semi-finals doubleheader, Township had cruised to a 5-0 win over Lancaster Mennonite.
As the clock at Comet Field indicated that 80 minutes of soccer had been played and that regulation time was up, the Bucks and Knights were knotted at 2-2.
Joe Rushemeza's goal midway into the first half gave CV a 1-0 edge. In a span of less than 15 minutes ticking down to halftime, the Knights got goals from Blaise Deluca and Russell Canouse to take a 2-1 lead at intermission.
Tyler Martin kept Conestoga Valley's hopes alive by scoring the equalizer 2:39 into the second half. Both teams played scoreless soccer from that point on and through two 15-minute extra time periods. That's just over 67 minutes of shutout soccer by both defenses.
Hempfield goalie Travis Worra made a save on CV's fourth penalty kick attempt. Blasts by Bill Gately and Jason Keifer from the penalty spot put the game away for Hempfield.
Conestoga Valley fell to 13-5-2 on the season.
Matt Hoffman made 10 saves during regulation to keep the Buckskins in the game.
Last year, the Buckskins had also reached the semis, only to lose to be stopped by Manheim Township. In fact, this year's semi-final loss was almost on the anniversary of a 4-3 heart-breaking defeat at the hands of Hershey in the district playoffs.
In Tuesday's quarterfinal match, Conestoga Valley had only four shots on goal. But three of those shots found the back of the net against Lancaster Catholic in a 3-2 victory also at Penn Manor.
Josiah Groff scored one and assisted on another goal as the Buckskins broke out of a 1-1 deadlock in the second half. His corner kick was headed in by Jonathan Kumher with less than 15 minutes left to play. Groff later scored on a direct kick to give CV a 3-1 advantage.
Give credit to Hoffman for his stellar goal tending as he stopped 11 Crusader shots on goal. The Crusaders fell to 10-9 after the defeat. Joe Kaiser scored both of their goals.
FOOTBALL
Everyone watching the Section Two clash between the Buckskins and the Cedars from the sidelines, the bleachers or the press box at Lebanon High School knew that Kevin Kelley was going to get the ball.
In fact, the Buckskins only attempted five passes all night while junior quarterback Alex Dienner handed the ball off to Kelley 34 times.
And yet, the Cedars were unable to stop the Conestoga Valley senior, who rushed for a school record 331 yards on 34 carries.
"He has broken the single-game rushing record here three times already this season," remarked CV head coach Tom Nichols in a telephone interview.
As he carved up the turf at Lebanon High School, he scored four touchdowns to lead Conestoga Valley to a 35-14 victory. The Buckskins improved to 4-1 in Section Two and 6-2 overall.
The offensive line unit has contributed largely to the success of Kelley who, through eight games, has now rushed for 1,681 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Senior center Bryce Stillman anchors the line while 6-foot-3, 240-lb. junior guard Travis Switzer is a force to be reckoned with at right guard. Cole Dillman is the other junior guard. At the two tackle positions, the Buckskins have seniors Andrew Burkholder and Blayde Eberly.
Though senior tight end Joel Lapp is out with an injury, junior Travis Schuerich has filled in nicely.
"It's been pretty much the running game for us," Nichols said. "Our offensive line is doing a nice job. At quarterback, Alex Dienner is doing a nice job managing the game. He doesn't make mental mistakes.
"Plus, we're doing a fine job of protecting the ball," Nichols continued.
The Buckskins and Cedars (3-2; 3-5 overall) were each scored two touchdowns in the opening period. The score was knotted at 14-14 heading into the second quarter.
Lebanon's scores came on touchdown runs by X'Zavier Baxter from inside the CV five-yard line. After a six-yard TD pass from Dienner to Joel Leicy had made it 7-0 in the Buckskins' favor and Kelley's 72-yard sprint to the end zone had doubled that lead, Baxter capped off two scoring drives.
Kelley scored on a 30-yard run in the second quarter. Senior Adam Heiselman kicked the extra point on this TD. Sophomore Robbie Cardina was 4-for-4 on PAT kicks on the other Buckskin touchdowns.
Kelley's three-yard run across the goal line increased the lead to 28-14, which was how things stood going into the second half. Kelley's final touchdown came on a 60-yard dash in the third quarter.
Nichols inherited a football program that had gone 1-9 in each of the past two seasons. In fact, getting off to a 2-0 start got the team and the community excited over what was yet to come.
"After both of those wins they looked like kids at Christmas," Nichols said.
Though the Buckskins won their first two games, they lost a close contest to Cedar Crest in the third week.
"The Cedar Crest loss had to do with not practicing well that week," Nichols recalled, "and we made some mistakes we shouldn't have made. Maybe the kids took them lightly. Cedar Crest was coming of a pretty bad loss. But they did a nice job responding in the fourth game.
"Winning and losing as a team you have to learn how to handle both," said the CV coach. "Winning brings on winning and losing brings on losing. You get a lot more confident when you're winning. There's a fine line between being confident and over-confident."
As for the pre-season expectations for a team that had successive losing seasons, Nichols recalled how he addressed the team.
"I talked to the kids in the summer," he said. "I didn't say we were going to win this many or that many games; I said we were going to be competitive and in a position to win in the fourth quarter. Last year, they hadn't played four quarters of football; they were usually too far behind in the fourth quarter."
The Buckskins, whose lone loss in Section Two was a 36-0 loss to Manheim Central, will play at Cocalico on Friday. Lebanon will be at Manheim Central to take on the unbeaten Barons (5-0; 8-0 overall).
CROSS COUNTRY
In the league championship race at Ephrata Middle School, the Buckskins' Nate Cody and Naeb Manisteab finished among the top-25. Cody, a sophomore, raced to the finish line in 17:28, finishing 21st in the race. His junior teammate ran a 17:32 pace, which was good for 25th place.
The race was won by Cedar Crest's Jon Jackson. He out-ran the pack by registering a winning time of 16:44. It was just a few strides ahead of McCaskey's Quichon Walker (16:50).
In the girls' race, Elco senior Kayleigh Perry defended her title, winning this year's race in 18:52. Warwick teammates Emily Cameron (19:06) and Alli Mannon (19:09) claimed second and third, respectively.
