Lancaster sun section b 11 09 2014

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Sports & Entertainment

EMOTIONS MIXED FOR MEYER FAMILY The Lancaster Sun / Saturday, November 08, 2014

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SECTION B

Lancaster boys volleyball holds off OP, wins third sectional championship By Aaron Garland ORCHARD PARK SUN

Jason Stang wasn’t overlooking anything Wednesday night (Nov. 5) in the Section VI Division I boys volleyball final. Stang’s Lancaster team, the No. 2 seed, doesn’t get there frequently. And the squad it was facing, fourth-seeded Orchard Park, does. Lancaster was favored after defeating the Quakers twice in the regular season, but OP was hot, coming off a semifinal upset of No. 1 Lockport. Lancaster avoided being next up in the Quakers’ path by sweeping the title match, 25-14, 25-16 and 25-14 at Sweet Home, where Hamburg downed Eden for the Division II crown just before. “Anything can happen in these sectional finals,” said Stang, whose team captured the title for the first time since 2006. “It doesn’t happen too often we get here. I just kept saying over and over again ‘It would be a lot sweeter walking away with a victory.’” Stang said it is just the program’s third sectional championship, at least as far back as the records he peaked at go. The junior outside hitter duo of Kenny Rudz and Jay Baumann had eight kills apiece for Lancaster (23-4). The pair has progressed significantly since Lancaster suffered a first-round defeat in the postseason tournament a year ago, Stang said. “A lot kids got better from sophomore year to junior year,” Stang said. “My two outsides really, really were powerful this year. It wears

JOE VALENTI

Lancaster’s Joe Mescall (1) tries to block a ball hit by Orchard Park’s Jordan DesRosiers (15) during the teams’ Division I final Nov. 5 at Sweet Home High School. The Redskins won the championship in straight sets. teams down. When you always have a decent swing out there, you might get one block, you might get a dig here and there, but to shut us down completely is difficult.” That rang true against OP, which couldn’t garner much momentum. Whenever the Quakers (14-11) went on a mini run, Lancaster was there for the big kill to stymie it from

growing into a set-altering one. “We knew it was going to be an uphill run and they were prepared,” OP coach Matt Lexner said. “We just could not get on track. We started just for a couple minutes and then they were able to put us back to sleep.” Martin Hackford led the Quakers with seven kills, three blocks and an ace.

Just being in the finals was maybe an unexpected sight, though. At least to those outside OP. And not only because the Quakers took down powerhouse Lockport to earn a trip to Sweet Home. Last season, OP had a singledigit win total for the first time since 1977. But it finished the regular season above .500 overall and a respectable 5-7

Meyer-less Lancers lean on senior Drzymala By Jonah Bronstein SPORTS REPORTER

The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team overwhelmed opponents with the top one-two punch in Western New York this season. Entering the playoffs, h o w e v e r, t h e L a n c e r s suddenly needed a star performance from the less-heralded member of that tandem. Leah Meyer, the star outside hitter ranked among the top prep prospects in the country and committed to play for Duke University next year, went down with a severe ankle injury in the regular season finale. Ashley Drzymala had been Meyer’s co-star since they decided to attend St. Mary’s together four years ago, but now in her senior year, she was thrust into the lead role. “We need you to be the go-to player,” coach Don Pieczynski told Drzymala. Drzymala did not disappoint, hitting better than .350 on nearly twice as many swings per game in the Monsignor Martin playoffs as St. Mary’s

in ECIC I. If that wasn’t enough credence to the Quakers being back as a player in the Western New York volleyball landscape, OPappeared in a section final for the ninth time in 13 years Wednesday. “The death of the Orchard Park boys volleyball program has been greatly exaggerated,” Lexner said. “Here we are, back

SPORTS REPORTER

Ashley Drzymala became the St. Mary’s volleyball team’s go-to player when star outside hitter Leah Meyer sustained an injury. preserved its undefeated record and advanced to the state tournament that will be held Sunday on the Lancers home floor. In the come-from-behind

championship game victory over Nardin, Drzymala had 26 kills and 22 digs. She had the winning kill in the second set after the Lancers had fought back

from four game points and had dropped the opening game.

See “Drzymala” on page B3

See “Volleyball” on page B3

Timely ‘D’ lifts St. Mary’s over O’Hara

By William Wilczewski

JEFFREY T. BARNES

where we always are. Nobody picked us to go to the finals. Nobody picked us to go to the semifinals, etc. etc. Being able to pull it together with these seniors, it means a lot to me. It will mean a lot to them after a few hours. It was definitely a great run.”

With the game on the line, a big play was needed by someone. That someone turned out to be St. Mary’s High lineman Tony Robinson — who came up with a critical sack on Cardinal O’Hara quarterback Tony Maple on a two-point conversion attempt with less than four minutes left in the game Nov. 1 to preserve a 30-28 Lancer victory over the visiting Hawks. The win also preserved the Lancers’ No. 5 slot for Nov. 7’s Monsignor Martin Athletic Association playoff opener, in which St. Mary’s (6-3) will take on host No. 4 St. Francis — a team the Lancers lost to, 46-20, on Oct. 25.

The Hawks (2-7), on the other hand, remained the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 Bishop Timon — a team they also lost to, 3614, on Oct. 18. On Nov. 1, though, most pundits likely thought the Lancers would have rolled over the Hawks, but when Maple connected with Shaquille St. Lot for a 34-yard TD strike on a fourth-and-14 play in the fourth quarter, a tie game at the end of regulation looked to be in the cards. Robinson’s sack, however, rained on the Hawks’ parade like the rain that fell from the blue-grey sky during the contest — giving St. Mary’s the chance to run out the clock. “I was just thinking about getting the win,” the 5-foot-9, 200-pound junior nose tackle said. “We just had to win, and I just had to make the play and get us the W. I wanted to break down and cry, but I had to keep my head in the game and finish it.”

See “Lancers” on page B2


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