PIAA VOLLEYBALL: Whitehall powers past Abington Heights in Class 3A first round (original) (raw)

S. ABINGTON TWP. — Abington Heights faced a tall task in trying to knock off Whitehall, a team that built a lot of momentum at the end of the season.

The Comets, who won their second straight District 2 Class 3A championship, had the energy of a home crowd, but after giving a spirited effort, couldn’t stymie the Zephyrs in any of the three sets.

Whitehall, which upset top-seeded Parkland in the semifinals of the District 11 playoffs but lost to Emmaus in the title game, powered past Abington Heights, 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-22), on Tuesday in the PIAA Class 3A boys volleyball tournament.

The Zephyrs (19-5) advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals to face District 3 champion Cumberland Valley, which defeated Spring-Ford, 3-0.

Abington Heights (15-6) ended the season as the Lackawanna League champions and District 2 Class 3A winners.

“They are a phenomenal team,” said Abington Heights senior Ben Reese, who had seven kills. “We were hanging right there with them in the first set. I appreciate how the guys battled back. It is tough going into the third set, and you are down, 2-0, and it looks like your backs are against the wall. I didn’t see any quit in any of our guys.

“None of us wanted the season to end. I am so proud of how we competed and what we showed as a team. Overall, this was a great season. This is a tough one, though.”

Whitehall and Abington Heights traded punches in a back-and-forth first set. Abington Heights had a 15-13 lead after a kill by Billy Johnson. Whitehall then scored five of the next six points and stole the momentum.

Cole Rozycki and Omari Ratliff had back-to-back smashes, and the Zephyrs finished on a 4-0 run that secured a 25-16 win.

In the second set, after Abington Heights had a 5-4 lead on a kill by Gavin Corwin, Whitehall went on a 7-1 run fueled by three kills from Elias Kamhia that built an 11-6 advantage.

Nolan Moore, Abington Heights’ top offensive weapon, kept the team within striking distance. That was until Whitehall deflated the Comets by scoring nine of 10 points to build an imposing 24-11 lead. Cole Richards had two blocks and a kill in the surge for the Zephyrs, who secured the second set with a Jayden Haik kill.

“We had a lot of unforced errors,” Moore said. “We have a lot of young guys, not by years but with experience playing in the state playoffs. It was a matter of hitting them back. They are a huge team.”

Abington Heights, as they did all season, showed fight in the third set. The Comets had leads of 2-0, 6-3, 7-4 and 8-5, charging up the fans. Dan Beck and Moore provided the offense for the Comets.

Whitehall responded. Ratliff, a towering 6-5 middle, and Rozyk, a 6-7 middle, were imposing their will on the Abington Heights front row. The Zephyrs pulled even and took a 17-14 lead that forced a timeout by the Comets.

Haik had a kill, Ratliff had a block and Richards had a kill that helped Whitehall earn a 23-18 lead. Abington Heights didn’t go quietly and scored four of the next five points, but the Zephyrs put away the win, 25-22.

Moore, a junior, finished with 13 kills, and Billy Johnson had five blocks for Abington Heights. Chris Cummins had 13 digs, and Ryan Horutz ran the offense with 26 assists, which gave him 671 for the season and 1,266 in his career.

“We had to keep fighting,” said Moore, who finished the season with 251 kills. “You look at that second set, and we got beat, 25-13, and we came back and almost won the third set. We kept fighting, and that is big.”