By Eric Pyles
The Elizabethtown volleyball team closed out the regular season last week, splitting their final two games to finish 4-6 and outside the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff picture.
The Lady Bears started the week on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Solanco. E-town jumped out to a 2-0 lead by taking games one and two 25-22 and 25-18, respectively.
The Mares fought back to take game three 25-17, but were unable to do any more damage as the Bears closed out the match with a 25-23 game-four victory.
Samantha Sallade was the top Lady Bear recording four aces and two blocks. Samantha Hicks added eight kills and Cassidy Minneci four aces to aid in the win. Jess Miller kept Solanco close in each game with a nine kill and three block effort.
Elizabethtown closed out the season on Thursday with a 3-0 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg.
The Lady Pioneers kept the Bears on their heels just enough to slip away with 25-19, 25-17 and 25-21 wins.
Taylor Roland led the L-S march with four aces, nine kills and one block.
Hicks was the top Bear with three kills and two blocks. Casey Meier added three kills of her own, while Sallade and Rachel Dern each added two aces in the losing effort.
In what has become as synonymous with Friday night football as cheerleaders and marching bands, rain was once again front and center last Friday as E-town battled Manheim Central in a Section Two showdown. The heavy rain, popping up for a second straight week, was again a factor coaches and players had to take into account as they hit the gridiron.
For the Bears, maybe it was the weather or maybe it was the relentless Baron defense; most likely it was the combo platter that held E-town to just 66 total yards and scoreless for the first time all season.
The powerful Barons were also somewhat held in check by the weather, but still managed 210 total yards in the 27-0 victory.
The Manheim Central defense stepped up first, forcing an Elizabethtown punt on the game's opening possession. That led to Dan Trafford's 63-yard punt return for a touchdown that made it 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Justin Gorman, who finished the game with 90 yards rushing, made it 14-0 with his 12-yard score later in the first frame.
The Baron defense made another appearance to cap the first quarter action. Brett Barber picked off E-town signal caller Andy Breault and scampered 41 yards for a 21-0 lead.
Central shifted into neutral from there adding just two Taylor Groff field goals, one of 35 yards and one of 33 to set the 27-0 final.
The Bears, now 2-3 in section play and 3-5 overall, did have a shining star in David Kennedy. The standout linebacker tallied 15 tackles, nine of them solo, forced a fumble and picked up one sack in the loss.
Up next for E-town is a Friday showdown with the Ephrata Mountaineers.
The E-town field hockey team also braved the weather last Friday to try and extend their season for at least one more game. The Lady Bears battled Central York in a District 3-AAA play-in game with the winner to advance to an October 27 meeting with sixth-seed Lower Dauphin.
Neither team managed to take control early as the teams came out of the halftime break knotted at 0-0.
E-town wasted little time taking control after the break as Cassandra Rawa found the back of the cage just 1:35 into the second half. Erin Van Horn pinned the momentum needle on the Lady Bears' side by adding an insurance goal at 4:58.
A 2-0 lead was all Brittany Walker needed, as she kept the Lady Panthers off the scoreboard with seven saves to keep the shutout intact.
The 9-8-0 Lady Bears now travel to Hershey to face the Lady Falcons of Lower Dauphin on Tuesday in the opening round of the district playoffs.
The Elizabethtown cross country team made the annual trip to Ephrata Middle School for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship run last Tuesday.
The boys team finished fourth in the team standings, led by Nate Kreider's eighth-place time of 17:08. Zach McCurdy and Corey Landis crossed the line just five seconds apart, but McCurdy's 17:27 put him 18th, while Landis and his 17:32 finished 26th. Just a few steps behind both was teammate, Micaiah Schlicher, who finished 30th with a time of 17:35.
While the boy's team was posting its fourth-place finish, the Lady Bears were busy posting a sixth-place team finish.
Olivia Espenshade crossed the finish line at 20:23, which put her 12th, or about a minute and a half behind Lancaster-Lebanon League champion Kayleigh Perry of Elco.
Elisabeth Schlicher was the only other E-town runner to crack the top 30, finishing 19th with a time of 20:38.
Both squads will travel to Hershey for the District 3-AAA meet on October 28th.
The Elizabethtown boy's soccer team saw its chance at a Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship end with a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Lancaster Mennonite (15-2-2) last Tuesday.
The Bears fell victim to a Blazer attack that featured Keegan Rosenberry. Rosenberry scored the first of two goals just 3:13 into the contest to give his Blazers a 1-0 lead. That lead stood until the 80th minute when Sean Strangeway converted a penalty kick to knot the game at 1-1.
Rosenberry struck again, this time taking a Tyler Goodling pass and putting it in the net for the game winner just over five minutes into overtime.
Up next for the 8-6-3 Bears is a District 3-AAA play-in game with the 18th-seeded Chambersburg Trojans on October 26.
