CATASAUQUA — A historic run for the Crestwood boys volleyball team led them to the Lehigh Valley for Saturday’s state quarterfinal round.
That’s where the run would end for the Comets, who ran into a buzzsaw in the form of defending state champion Manheim Central.
Crestwood was swept by the Barons, who entered this year’s tournament as the third seed out of District 3, in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals on Saturday.
The final line for Manheim Central: 25-13, 25-16, 25-20. The Comets got stronger each set and even led for about half of the third frame, but an array of heavy hitters and polished servers were too much to handle.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Crestwood coach Jeff Stec said. “We went out on our own terms, we played the hardest we could, that’s (Manheim Central) a great team.”
The Comets breezed through their opening-round matchup against Masterman in straight sets, but were quickly in the hole against Manheim Central.
The Barons never trailed in the opening set and had two different runs where they scored five points in a row to put some distance between them and Crestwood.
Many stretches of Saturday’s match were played fairly close to even between the two teams, but the story of Manheim Central’s success came in the form of several big runs to either take control or run away with sets.
The second of those runs in the opening set was the set-ender for Manheim Central, winning the first set going away.
Crestwood came out looking much sharper in the second set and was able to hang point-for-point with the Barons into the middle part of the frame.
But another one of those runs popped up for Manheim Central, turning an 8-7 Crestwood lead into a 12-8 lead for the Barons, who took control to finish the rest of the set from there.
The third set was Crestwood’s strongest of the afternoon, with the Comets leading much of the early action while trying to extend their season.
Again, a critical run for Manheim Central took all the air out of Crestwood’s sails: the Comets led 11-8 at one point, only for the Barons to score 11 of the next 12 points.
With a 25-20 victory, the Barons won the set, won the match and continued forward on their quest to defend the state championship.
Caleb Groff led Manheim Central with 12 kills, also adding a pair of aces in the final set to help the Barons reverse the tide and finish out the match.
JJ Stec, playing in his final match in the Crestwood red and white, had nine kills and six service points. Fellow seniors Larry Little and Owen Rinehimer added seven and six kills, respectively.
Manheim Central will take on District 3 champion York Suburban in the semifinal round on Tuesday. York Suburban swept Manheim Central when the two teams met in the District 3 semifinals last month.