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Strangely enough, however, that might have been just what the Wildcats needed as they enter the postseason -- especially considering the solid play they got from their secondary middle-hitter, Micah Bortner. He was of four Dallastown players to record at least 10 kills and the junior also proved to be a stopper defensively, adding 10 blocks, as the Wildcats closed out the regular season with a hard-fought 21-25, 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 15-6 victory.
With the win, Dallastown finished at 9-1 in league, good for second place behind Central. Spring Grove finished at 6-4. Both teams will compete in the York-Adams League Tournament, which starts Tuesday. Dal-
lastown enters that tournament ranked ninth in the state in Class AAA by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.
Dallastown's big three of Matt Rae (18 kills, 10 blocks), Nate Leister (20 kills, 26 assists, 10 blocks, 11 digs) and Alex Bahn (15 kills, 27 assists, 11 digs) have been consistent all year long. But for the stretches when Rae is out of the rotation, the Wildcats have struggled. That is until Thursday night, which was a major positive for Dallastown head coach Gabe Bishard.
"I was really impressed with the way Bortner connected with Alex Bahn," Bishard said. "There were some times in games two and three where they had
That was big, considering that Dallastown was flat in the first game, fell behind by five points, and had trouble stringing a run together to get back into it.
"Our game one showing was disappointing," Bishard said. "We made a lot of mistakes and we got down and kept trading side-outs and you can't do that."
That changed in game two, when the Wildcats started to hit around and through the Spring Grove block, which was effective in the first game.
"Our block fell apart in games two and three," Rocket head coach Bill Hahn said. "And they took advantage of that. Every single hit that I saw was around the 10-foot line and they maximized (their hits)."
The Rockets rallied for victory in game four to force a fifth game, but the hosts scored 12 of 13 points at one point to coast to victory on Senior Night.
"That was pretty cool," Rae said. "We weren't necessarily expecting to go five game, but Spring Grove is always tough and they have really made a lot of progress just in this season. They were a whole different team from what we saw earlier this year."
Bishard echoed that sentiment.
"Any time we play Spring Grove it's always going to be a good match," he said. "It's going to be a back-and-forth, see-saw battle and we knew that coming in."
Bob Greiman led the Rockets with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Phil Schorner tallied a game-high 29 assists.
OTHER BOYS' VOLLEYBALL
NEW OXFORD 3, RED LION 0: At New Oxford, Keith Raber hammered seven kills and Kyle Grothey and Jordan Meyers combined for 25 assists in the Colonials' 25-13, 25-21, 25-15 victory. Levi Kauffman had eight kills and 11 assists for Red Lion, and Adam Reichard supplied five kills and nine assists. New Oxford won the JV match, 25-15, 25-14.
NORTHEASTERN 3, YORK SUBURBAN 0: At Manchester, the Bobcats won the match, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20. Tyler Demmitt led the home team with 10 kills and three aces. Justin Campbell had eight kills and four aces, while Randy Treat had seven kills. For the Trojans, Robert Sharp had eight kills, 10 digs and five blocks. Steven Rasovsky contributed six kills and four blocks. Northeastern won the JV match 25-5, 25-18.
EASTERN 3, WEST YORK 0: At West York, the Golden Knights won the match, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18. Mike Kraft led the home team with 13 kills, 12 assists, seven digs and three blocks. Eric Chronister had 22 assists and three aces, while Mike Knapp contributed six kills and four digs. For the Bulldogs, Alex Kane had 18 kills, six digs and three blocks, while Ben Hoskin had 13 digs and 18 assists. Eastern won the JV match 25-21, 25-19.
-- Reach Ryan Vandersloot at sports@yorkdispatch.com.
