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Evans was nearly perfect in his prediction.
His Trojans reached the PIAA Class AA final, but lost to Bethlehem Catholic.
But the other Trojans did fulfill that prophecy, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to hand Pennridge a nerve-wracking 3-2 defeat Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class AAA championship match at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility.
It is Chambersburg's first state title in volleyball and it did not come easy.
The Rams, who lost to the Trojans 3-0 in quarterfinal pool play Friday, knocked off favored Central Dauphin in the morning semifinals, 3-2, then gave Chambersburg fits. Pennridge won the opening set 25-23, and, after the Trojans took a 25-20 win, the Rams routed Chambersburg 25-15 in set three.
"I was definitely worried," said Trojan senior setter Ray Frazer. "We were not playing to our ability."
Crouse said, "I wasn't concerned so much about our scoring as I was the way we were playing timid. But we turned it around."
Indeed.
Chambersburg zoomed to a 9-3 advantage in the fourth set. But Pennridge scored nine of the next 11 points to tie it 11-11, and the Rams kept going, holding a 23-22 lead with the serve. But a serving error brought the Trojans even, a hitting error gave them the lead and Tate Frazer finished off a 25-23
Outside hitter Nick Stonesifer said, "We just had to wake up. After the fourth we knew we had momentum and we kept rolling. Our passing got better and the defense kept balls in play."
"After the third, I told the guys if we take the fourth set, we were definitely winning the fifth," Trojan middle hitter Mitch Stahl said.
Chambersburg won the first three points in the final set on two Rams' hitting errors and a Ray Frazer ace. From that point on, Pennridge never drew even.
Ray Frazer said, "Getting those first three points got everybody going. We felt then that we really could win and everything clicked."
The Trojans ran out to a 12-8 lead and the next points were split evenly.
Stahl notched a kill for the 14th point, then turned the trick again for the match-winner, hitting a shot that the Rams could not return and setting off a wild celebration.
"I've definitely been thinking of this moment since I started playing volleyball," Ray Frazer said. "This is like a dream come true."
Libero Austin Frazer said, "Once we got our heads in it a little more, we woke up."
Outside hitter Drew Patterson said, "When it was on the line we played to our potential, and when it got the fifth set, we had a lot more fun. It really helps when you get a lead in the fifth."
In the morning's semifinals, Chambersburg disposed of Norwin, 3-0, taking games of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-17. Stahl had 14 kills and Keith Keggerreis had a solid match with nine kills and four blocks.
On the other court, Pennridge shocked Central Dauphin by taking the first two games. CD rallied to tie it 2-2, but Pennridge earned a 15-9 fifth-set win.
A day earlier, Chambersburg had rocked Pennridge with its strength in the middle. For the final, the Rams changed some things around.
"We've been here three years in a row and we've always started slow," Rams coach David Childs said. "But we played much better today. We made some adjustments to play against their middles better."
Crouse said, "We had to move our set away from the net to give our middles room to get around their blocks. And our outside hitters came through for us, too - Tate, Drew and Nick had some big kills. Yesterday the middles carried us; today it was the outside hitters."
Keggerreis said, "They really stepped up with their passing and blocking compared to Friday. They took away the middle and we had to adjust."
Pennridge hurt the Trojans in the first and third games with some excellent serving, and Kalin Nelson and Erik Moyer were dangerous on kills, Moyer at the net and Nelson charging in from the back row.
"Their serving was very strong; better than we'd seen this weekend," Crouse said.
In the final, Stahl racked up 22 kills and one broken net. On a serve by Stahl that went out of play, one of the straps that held the net in place was ripped.
But two other Trojans reached double figures in kills - Tate Frazer with 14 and Stonesifer with 10. Stonesifer led in blocks (3) and Ray Frazer in assists (59). The leaders in digs were Austin Frazer (16), Reese Walton (14) and Ray Frazer (13). Austin Frazer also led in service points with 12.
"This just great, amazing I really can't describe it in words," said Walton, who then went silent trying to think of another word, and came up with: "Breathtaking. We worked so hard for this."
And now they can take a deep breath and enjoy those gold medals.
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Ed Gotwals can be reached at 262-4755 and egotwals@publicopinionnews.com or on Twitter @EdGotwalsPO.
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PIAA Class AAA Volleyball
SEMIFINAL
Chambersburg 3, Norwin 0
First set: Chbg 25-22. Second set: Chbg 25-22. Third set: Chbg 25-17.
Chambersburg statistics: Kills - Mitch Stahl 14, Keith Keggerreis 9, Drew Patterson 6, Tate Frazer 4, Nick Stonesifer 4. Blocks - Kegerreis 4, T.Frazer 2, Stahl 2. Assists - Ray Frazer 29. Digs - Austin Frazer 13, R.Frazer 8. Service points - Stahl 8, A.Frazer 7, T.Frazer 7, Patterson 6. Aces - Stahl 3, T.Frazer 2.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Chambersburg 3, Pennridge 2
First set: PR 25-23. Second set: Chbg 25-20. Thirs set: PR 25-15. Fourth set: Chbg 25-23. Fifth set: Chbg 15-11.
Pennridge statistics: Kills - Erik Moyer 17, Kalin Nelson 13, Derek Rush 9. Blocks - Moyer 7, Mike Bollinger 7, Austin McVaugh 4. Assists - McVaugh 47. Digs - Rush 15, Nelson 14.
Chambersburg statistics: Kills - Stahl 22, T.Frazer 14, Stonesifer 10, Kegerreis 7, R.Frazer 5, Patterson 5, Trenton Montgomery 1. Blocks - Stonesifer 3, Stahl 2, R.Frazer 2, Keggerreis 2, Patterson 1. Assists - R.Frazer 56. Digs - A.Frazer 16, Reese Walton 14, R.Frazer 13, Patterson 11, T.Frazer 9, Stonesifer 3, Stahl 1. Service points - A.Frazer 12, Walton 11, T.Frazer 7, R.Frazer 7, Stahl 6. Aces - A.Frazer, R.Frazer.
