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By JOHN ERZAR [email protected]
Thursday, June 03, 2004 Page: 3B
Bishop Hoban plans to be at Shippensburg University for its biggest test in
tomorrow’s PIAA Boys State Volleyball Tournament.
As for the Lake-Lehman Black Knights, well, some of them will be heading
elsewhere instead of facing three-time defending champion Hempfield.
Lehman graduates at 6 p.m. tomorrow, and senior starters Cory Spencer and
Craig Thomas will depart prior to a 4:20 p.m. match with Hempfield, which is
led by U.S. Junior National Team candidate Gary Vogel.
In reality, District 2 champ Lehman’s fate likely will be decided prior to
the Hempfield matchup. The Black Knights (18-0) play D3 fifth seed Cumberland
Valley at 11 a.m. and D1 runner-up Pennsbury at 1:40 p.m., and will likely
need to win both to advance.
“The schedule is the best we can have under the circumstances,” Lehman
coach John Baranowski said.
Lehman lost to Pennsbury 25-21 in a one-game match in the semifinals of the
Central York Tournament on April 17. All four teams in Lehman’s bracket
participated in that tournament. Pennsbury also has another tournament victory
over Lehman, but the Black Knights weren’t at full strength. The Black Knights
also need to be leery of Cumberland Valley as well.
“Cumberland Valley, I didn’t expect them to be the fifth seed in their
district,” Baranowski said. “I thought they were stronger than that.”
D2 runner-up Hoban (16-2) must also get out to a fast start. The Argents
will likely need to bump off D6 champ State College at 9 a.m. because D7
champion North Allegheny, the state runner-up the past two years, awaits at
12:20 p.m.
“We were at the State College Tournament and we ended up losing to (State
College) 25-23 and 27-26 in a cap game,” Hoban coach Jack Kablick said. “We
were there all the while with them on their court.”
Losing both would likely mean playing for pride against D3 runner-up Wilson
at 3 p.m., although a 1-2 team could advance via tiebreakers.
“I thought they would be a little more excited,” Kablick said, “but it’s
like another game to them. Maybe that will change once we get there.”
The 16-team tournament is broken down into four four-team groups. Each team
plays three best-of-three matches to 25 points, with the top two teams from
each group moving to Saturday’s action.
Saturday’s format is single-elimination, with the quarterfinals at 10 a.m.,
the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. and the finals at 3 p.m. A match will be a
best-of-five with the first four games to 25 points. A fifth game, if needed,
will be to 15 points.