Pennridge falls in 5 to Hempfield in PIAA AAA semifinals
SPRING >> Pennridge came ever so close to its first state final appearance since 2012, but Hempfield’s defense locked things down in the decisive fifth game Tuesday night, propelling the Black Knights to a 3-2 win over the Rams in a Class AAA state semifinal contest at Wilson West Lawn High.
Hempfield advances to Saturday’s state final at Penn State, to take on the winner of the Penn Manor-Penn Trafford contest.
Pennridge took Game One and also led 2-1, but Hempfield rallied back, prevailing 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9) to advance to the state final for the first time since 2007.
“(Their defense) is the number one reason they won it,” Rams coach Dave Childs said of the Black Knights, who pushed ahead for good, 5-4, in the fifth game. “We just made a few mistakes and they capitalized on them.”
Junior Ben Chinnici’s big swings at the net, along with timely aces by senior Austin Rush, had Pennridge on its way, but Logan Smiley helped Hempfield stay in it.
The Black Knights returned just about everything late in the match. Pennridge got to within 13-9 in the decisive game, but Hempfield was able to close it out.
Chinnici helped bring the Rams to the brink of PSU.
“You get him the ball and he puts it away,” Childs said of Chinnici. “He does everything well. I think (Hempfield) adjusted well. And we couldn’t quite get the right swings for him there at the end.”
Chinnici returns next year for the Rams, who will lose eight seniors to graduation. Childs called it one of his favorite senior classes that he has coached.
“Sometimes you have a group that comes through, and as a coach, you can see they get it,” Childs said. “They understand what it takes and they’re gonna put in the time and effort, and they’re gonna do the little things and they listen.
“This was a great group to coach.”
BOYS #VOLLEYBALL: @hempfield heading to the PIAA 3A final, top @pennridgevball 15-9 in Game 5 to win 3-2. pic.twitter.com/78WbdpHRVy
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) June 8, 2016
Seniors Jesse Smith, Aaron Nelson, Ryan Spangler, Sam Cullen, Jon Bedillion, Caleb Pennell, Jeremy Baum and Rush helped lead Pennridge to an overall record of 20-4.
The Rams got to within 24-22 in the fourth game, coming close to taking the match in four, but Hempfield, gunning for its 10th state title in the program’s history, was able to tie it up and send it to five.
“To go into a Game Five with a team like this, after they get the momentum, is huge. When teams are so evened up, that can just push it over,” Chinnici said. “I think they played really smart. They got a lot of digs. They wouldn’t let us put anything away.”
