Hempfield Slips by Lady Mounts

A look at the banner hanging in the gym at Hempfield High School is all you need to know about the girls volleyball team. But Tuesday, in a District Three Class 4A semifinal in Landisville, the Black Knights got a scare early from an Ephrata team they rolled over on the same court just a few weeks ago.

The Mounts easily won game one 25-18, and it seemed to stun Hempfield. But in typical Hempfield postseason fashion, while Ephrata played tough the rest of the way, the Black Knights took the next three en route to an 18-25, 25-20, 25-8, 25-17 win.

The victory put the Black Knights (16-1) back in the district final. If they win, the title would be their fourth in a row. It is also the team’s eighth final trip in the last nine years.

“This means a lot. This is what Hempfield volleyball is about, going for championships,” Hempfield coach Andrew Olree said. “(The Mounts) got their setter back, so I knew they would have some more will to play us. So we just had to ride the wave out and keep playing our game until we settled into our game. They showed their resiliency tonight.”

A big reason for the Mounts’ success in the first game was, unlike the first time the two tangled, they had setter Sofia Rios in the lineup, and executed their offense perfectly. Ephrata made some great passes, while Zoe Wales did a nice job with hitting.

After a long volley ended with a spike into the net, knotting things up at 2-2, the closest the Black Knights came in the first game was an 11-7 deficit.

The Mounts seemed to have Hempfield on the ropes early in the second game also, as they went on a 4-0 run with some strong play at the net by Courtney Smith and the serves of Olivia Horst, who had three aces. Ephrata went up 10-5 before Hempfield got more physical around the net — especially Sarah Hess (13 kills, 3 blocks) and Addison Leber (17 kills, 4 blocks 2 aces). With Paige Brillhart serving, the Knights took an 11-10 lead off a Hess kill, then took a 16-15 lead with Leber crushing the ball from the left side en route to the win.

“It was frustrating because we were all ready, so we were in a frenzy,” Leber said. “The second set, we calmed ourselves down. Our physicality and athleticism just came through, we were on our toes and this is great.”

After Reece Calabretta (nine kills) gave the Black Knights a 2-1 lead in the third game, Hempfield, this time mostly on the serves of Hess and Melody Butzer (42 assists, 3 aces) took control of the game and cruised to an easy win. With her dropping the ball over the net, Hempfield went on a 10-0 run that Ephrata could not overcome.

The fourth game was closer, with the Mounts taking a three-point lead early off a Taylor Haupt kill. It would be tied twice more before Hempfield, off a serve by Hess, took an 11-10 lead it would not relinquish.

“This is what it is all about. Ephrata is a really good team, and they played us tough,” Olree said. “ It’s exactly what we wanted leading into the state, and I’m sure they wanted the same thing.”

Ephrata (19-2), led by Haupt’s 16 kills and Rios’ 31 assists, will next play for third place in the district on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

“This was how I envisioned us playing the first time, and Sofia makes a difference. They knew we were here tonight,” Ephrata coach Mike Elliott said. “I think one of my assistants put it best, That was good volleyball that we played against a good team that you can’t replicate that kind of speed in our gym.”

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