It's never over until it's over. Penn Manor's volleyball team will agree. In non-league action last Monday, the Comets dominated the first (25-14) and fourth (25-11) sets and, with momentum, took a 10-2 lead in the tiebreaking set to 15 points, and were on the brink of victory.
"We all thought it was over, and that was our fatal flaw," said head coach Chris Telesco. "Dallastown began serving and blocking tougher, and we lost perspective. We forgot that we were on the verge of winning and began worrying about losing."
And lose they did, 16-14.
"It was the first, and hopefully only, time that panic set in with these guys," Telesco added. "It was a hard loss, but it was also a good lesson. We will come out stronger because of it."
The Wildcats took the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-18 before pulling off the come-from-behind win.
Dylan Zimmerman piled up 13 kills and seven digs and Matt Schaefer followed with 10 kills and two blocks. Hunter Enck added 10 digs and four aces, Trent Schlemmer put down nine kills, and Bryce Julian distributed 25 assists and served a pair of aces.
Back in section play Thursday, the Comets, behind nine kills by Schaefer and Julian's 11 aces, dominated Cedar Crest in a 3-0 win 25-7, 25-15, 25-15. Dom Roma hustled for 15 digs, Schlemmer put up one block, Julian handed out 11 assists and Riley Walton served up four aces as the Comets improved to 2-1 in Section One.
TRACK
Matt Julian broke the L-L League pole vault record not once, but twice last week. On Saturday the senior cleared 15-1 at the Tim Cook Invitational. Monday, April 1, he found success at 15-3, beating Township's Wayne Robinson by over two feet. The previous record was 15-0 set by Garden Spot's Jon Andrews in 2006. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to vault the Comets past visiting Streaks who prevailed 85-65.
The Comets were solid in the field, going 1-2 in the shot put with Josh Gibson (43-1) and Zach Banta (43-.75) and winning the high jump when Jackson Hostetter cleared 5-10. Martinez added a first in the triple jump (41-2.5) and was second in the long (19-5.75) and Gibson and Taz Whitfield tied for second in the javelin (169-5).
Manor won two of three relays but Township led 56-31 on the track overall, helping to pull off the win. Whitfield, Gibson, J Martinez and Rivera clocked a 44.7 in the 4x100 relay while Martinez, Martinez, Whitfield and Chad Mowbray settled for a 3:33.4 in the 4x400.
"We finished the meet crushing the 4x400," said Shober. "And that's the way we are going to finish our season. We may struggle at points but our young men and women are building to finish this season stronger than anybody else!"
But the Comets earned just one other victory on the track, Mowbray's 51.2 in the open 400 with Martinez taking second. Gibson and Whitfield shared second place in the 100 and Rivera was second in the 200 (23.6). Graham Thomas broke up Township's distance team with a second in the 3200 (19:13.7)
"We now have four boys who have qualified for districts in the 100," said first year head coach Ben Shober of Gibson, Whitfield, Rivera, and Daimar Wesley. "And three (Taz Whitfield, Rivera and Wesley) are close to qualifying for the league meet in the 200. In the field, newcomer Jackson Hostetter is ranked fifth in the league after clearing 5-10 in the high jump for the second consecutive meet."
The girls' team earned eight wins by eight different athletes and posted two sweeps on the day but still didn't have the depth to top the Streaks, who settled for a 97-53 win. Jalyn Clow, who won the discus (108) at the Tim Cook Invitational, anchored the discus squad with a 97-1. Emily Sensenich, who won the shot put (29-8), followed in second place (94-0) and Haley Magill (88-8) wrapped it up with a third.
The Comets also found sweeping success in the 100 meters with Grace Bibus (13.6), Saralyn Martinez (13.7), who won the 200 (28.4) and took third in the 400, and Chantal Morales (13.9) shutting out the Streaks.
The hosts also got a first from Becky Kramer in the 800 (2:38.7) and Alyssa Heagy, who cleared 4-10 to take high jump.
"Alyssa had a big day in the high jump," said Shober. "Saralyn had a great day as well, placing in three events and rounding out her day by running a great opening leg in the 4x400."
BOYS' LACROSSE
After opening the season with three straight losses, the Comets broke into the win column with a solid 15-4 victory over Elizabethtown last Monday, April 1. Clayton Hollinger poured in six goals and dished out one assist to highlight an offense that fired off 43 shots on goal.
Manor started off strong, taking the first quarter 4-1 and pushed ahead to 6-1 at the break. They matched that effort in the third quarter, taking a substantial 12-2 with one frame left.
"Our transition game helped get the offense moving," said head coach Zack Charles. "We still have a ton of work to do on the offensive side of the ball."
Alex Powders racked up five goals and three assists, Josh Heckman netted a hat trick and two assists and Isiac Nafziger (1g, 2a) rounded out the scoring.
The Comets were coming off a 13-8 Saturday, March 30, loss to Central York. Manor jumped out to a 3-1 first quarter lead before giving up six goals in the second. In a tightly contested second half, CY came away with a 6-4 advantage and the win.
"We've had a tough time in all second quarters during the first week of the season," Charles said. We lost the second quarter to Hempfield (7-0) and Township (6-0) as well. We're fighting through some injuries and are playing a lot of the younger kids who are learning on the fly."
Wednesday the Comets outscored Cocalico in three of four quarters and picked up a 12-6 win under the lights. Hollinger led the way with six goals and Heckman notched a hat trick and two assists to lead the way. Powders (1g, 2a), Rory Campbell (1g), Dylan Keene (1a) and Nafziger (1g, 1a) also contributed.
In goal, Ian Young recorded six saves in each of the last two outings.
TENNIS
The tennis team moved its overall record to 3-3 last week with wins over McCaskey and Lebanon.
On Monday, April 1, the Comets topped the Red Tornado 5-2. Derek Davis and Maxwell Davis put the Comets on the board with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles while Toby Singer and Petro Karpouzis ground out a tight 8-6 win at No. 3.
The Comets battled in singles play as well. M. Davis earned the toughest win of the day, coming back from a 3-6 loss to beat Christian Rodriguez 7-6 (4), 1-0 (3) at No. 2. Bryce Hanna turned in a solid 6-1, 6-3 No. 3 win while D. Davis picked up a 6-0, 6-3 result in the final singles match.
Wednesday's outing against Section Two's Lebanon proved to be a 7-0 blowout. Thomas Hockenberry and Kaden Peart worked an 8-0 shutout at No. 3 while Rabatin and D. Davis and M. Davis and Mowery each won 8-1 at No. 1 and 2 doubles respectively.
Rabatin, Hanna, Singer and Karpouzis each won in straight sets, giving up just eight games on the day.
SOFTBALL
Playing four games in seven days the softball team sandwiched losses to Warwick (5-2) and Hempfield (11-7) with wins over Lancaster Catholic (11-2) and Cedar Crest (22-2).
"We have to learn from the losses and continue to improve as a team," said head coach Dave Stokes.
The Comets held a 1-0 lead over Warwick on Friday, March 19, after three innings before giving up five runs over the next three and falling short in the comeback. "We did have two errors that cost us runs," said Stokes of the Comets who were outhit 10-5.
On Monday, April 1, Manor jumped out to a 7-0 lead after four complete innings only to give up two in the fifth, five in the seventh, and four in the tiebreaker eighth.
"My young team did everything we wanted for six innings," Stokes said. "But Hempfield can hit the ball and Bella Peters seemed to lose some velocity. She'll be very effective but needs to continue to improve her mental and physical stamina."
The Knights collected three homers on the day including one in the pivotal eighth inning.
Sophomore Emma Grumbling cracked a two run, two out homer in the fifth inning and Kaelin Gable went 3-4.
With an 18-hit offense, the Comets crushed winless Cocalico 22-2 last Wednesday. Gable sparked the hit parade with a 4-4 day at the plate. She also scored three runs. Victoria Hook and Riggs both collected three hit days and Audry Patterson added a two run homer.
Thursday, March 28 the Comets needed ten hits to earn a nine run win over the Crusaders. "We outmatched them from the start," Stokes said.
Peters (9k) and Riggs (4k) shared duties on the mound. Peters finished with 12K and eight walks over the next two games.
GIRLS' LACROSSE
The girls' lacrosse team continued to show its youth and struggled through growing pains last week, suffering a 23-4 Saturday, March 30 loss to Central York before dropping a 15-0 league result to Elizabethtown two days later.
"We are really missing our leading scorer, Anna May Barbusca, due to injury and haven't been possession the ball in the midfield," stated head coach Caroline Lovett. "Our defense, however, has been improving each game as we gain experience."
Central York, with 32 shots on goal, quickly took control, collecting 14 first half goals to Manor's 1. The hosts fared much better in the second half, scoring three goals to CY's 9. Alayna Adams scored twice with Rylee Leakway and Evelyn Weaver each finding the back of the net once.
Manor's offensive woes continued on Monday as they were denied a single goal and were held to just seven shots. The Bears scored nine goals in the first half and six after the break.
Cecily Charles was credited with nine saves in each of the losses.
BASEBALL
In their last three games combined, the Comets scored seven runs on 13 hits, gave up 25 runs on 38 hits and saw their overall record slip to 1-3.
After working a 4-2 nod over Warwick on Friday, March 4, the Comets suffered an 8-0 loss to Hempfield, April 1, and dropped a 14-4 result to Cedar Crest two days later.
"We just weren't able to shut down their offenses," said head coach Streeter Stuart. "And when you're asking your offense to score over 8 or 9 runs to keep up with the opponent, it's asking a lot of your hitters. We only walked one batter against Cedar Crest, normally a very encouraging sign, but Crest had 20 hits. We just need to be harder to hit," he added. "And we're not hitting well enough to keep up with the runs we're allowing consistently. No one has stepped up on a consistent basis. We're still trying to put together a good offensive game with good pitching, and hope for more wins as the season progresses."
The Comets got a complete game win from Ryan Glenn against Warwick. "And we played good defense behind him," said Stuart. "They got their hits but Ryan scattered them throughout the game."
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