Dallastown, Suburban move on to YAIAA Final Four
Now the fun begins.
After the York-Adams league's top teams yo-yoed up and down the state rankings all season, the league's best has been whittled down to the top four teams for Tuesday night's YAIAA tournament semifinals and championship at Dallastown.
Regular-season league champion Central York will play York Suburban, while regular-season runner-up Northeastern will play Dallastown. Semifinals start at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the Dallastown campus, with Northeastern and Dallastown facing off at the Dallastown Middle School. The championship match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Dallastown High School.
One of the toughest league's in the state for boys' volleyball, the YAIAA could be more balanced than prior years.
"In recent history, and I've been with the program 18 years, I don't remember a semifinal matchup where any of the four teams could take it on any given night," York Suburban co-head coach Jamie Evans said. "I definitely think Central has a little bit of the edge, but on the right night I think any of these four teams could take this."
Dallastown coach Tom Beakler added: "Anything can happen with the top four teams in this league."
Central and Northeastern earned first-round byes in the YAIAA tournament because of their top standing in the regular season, but York Suburban and Dallastown needed to survive quarterfinal showdowns. York Suburban moved on with a 3-1 win against Spring Grove, and Dallastown earned a 3-0 win against Red Lion.
York Suburban's coaches wondered what awaited them in a YAIAA quarterfinal after a shaky walk-through, Evans said. It appeared to carry over into the first game, when Spring Grove rallied from an early deficit and survived back-and-forth contest to pull out a 25-23 victory.
"Spring Grove came to play, and we did not block well," Evans said of Game 1.
But from then on, it was all York Suburban.
Suburban had all the energy, rolling all the way back for a 23-25, 25-8, 25-20, 25-16 victory.
York Suburban's Jack Schultz had 21 kills, and David Kinfe added five blocks. Spring Grove had three players with six or more kills, including Mason Staub's team-high nine.
"They lost their energy in that second game and they just had trouble finding it," Spring Grove coach Cameron Mummert said of his team.
Dallastown punched its ticket to the next round in the YAIAA quarterfinal nightcap against rival Red Lion with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-12 victory. Nathan Darr helped power the Wildcats to the win.
"Nate doesn't make many mistakes," Dallastown coach Tom Beakler said. "He hits the ball hard, he plays good defense and he passes well. He and Avery Terroso are the foundation of the team, and, of course, Peyton Ranck handles all the sets.
"With the firepower we have up front, if we can pass we we can do the rest of it."
The win means Dallastown's Beakler will be facing off against the program he led for more than a decade before stepping away from head coaching duties in the 1990s. It's Beakler's first year back in the boys' volleyball head coaching ranks since stepping down, and he's looking forward to seeing Northeastern.
"Always," Beakler said. "We love competition. We are really excited to play them tomorrow."
Dallastown 3, Red Lion 0
25- 17, 25-18, 25-12, -, -
Red Lion stats
Tristan, Kills: 2, Digs: 7, Assists: , Aces: 1, Blocks: Blake Hildebrand, Kills: 8, Digs: 2, Assists: , Aces: 1, Blocks: 1 Colby Myers, Kills: , Digs: 16, Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: John, Kills: 5, Digs: 2, Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: Brock Gould, Kills: 4, Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: 1 Chris, Kills: 1, Digs: 6, Assists: 11, Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks: , Kills: , Digs: , Assists: , Aces: , Blocks:
Dallastown stats
Nathan Darr, Kills: 10, Digs: 13, Assists: 0, Aces: 1, Blocks: 0 Avery Terroso, Kills: 5, Digs: 5, Assists: 1, Aces: 3, Blocks: 0 Jake Bixler, Kills: 3, Digs: 0, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 4 Drew Scott, Kills: 5, Digs: 1, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 2 Ben Ward, Kills: 6, Digs: 2, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 2 Jacob Winemiller, Kills: 0, Digs: 4, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 0 Chad Starner, Kills: 2, Digs: 1, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 1 Peyton Ranck, Kills: 1, Digs: 5, Assists: 29, Aces: 3, Blocks: 3 Mason Figdore, Kills: 0, Digs: 6, Assists: 0, Aces: 2, Blocks: 0 Zach Hobbs, Kills: 0, Digs: 7, Assists: 1, Aces: 2, Blocks: 0 Cade Fry, Kills: 0, Digs: 5, Assists: 0, Aces: 1, Blocks: 0 Isaac Horning, Kills: 0, Digs: 1, Assists: 0, Aces: 0, Blocks: 0