Hawks advance, but fall in finals

By PETER CAR
pcar@tnonline.com
Bethlehem Catholic coach Mike Zile knew that if his team didn’t qualify for the Lehigh Valley Conference playoffs, that his Hawks would have a long layoff in between the end of the regular season and state play.
Becahi doesn’t have the luxury of being in District 11’s 3A bracket.
Being a 2A school gives Becahi nobody to compete against in district volleyball, so Monday night’s five-game (17-25, 25-20, 21-25, 27-25 and 15-13) win over Whitehall in the LVC semifinals solidified at least one more meaningful game for the Hawks.
Becahi (14-3) will take on top-seeded Parkland (15-1) tonight at 6 p.m. in the LVC championship at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium.
The Trojans dispatched Emmaus (11-4) in a three game sweep (25-21, 25-13 and 25-22) during Monday’s first round of action.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they fell to Parkland in the finals Wednesday night, after Press deadlines.
“We played them tough in that contest,” said Zile about their April 27th encounter with Parkland, which the Trojans snuck by with consecutive two point wins in the first two games that evening. “We just need the same type of enthusiasm and desire that we had against Whitehall to have a chance.”
Becahi’s desire came out in game four Monday with the game tied at 24. The Hawks took three out of the next four points for a 27-25 win, which laid the ground work for a commanding 15-13 win in the decisive fifth game.
“We looked a little slow in the beginning, but as the game went on, we got better and sharper,” Zile said. “I think we adjusted to what they were doing in the end, but winning that fourth game was big.”
Parkland never seemed rattled in their three-game series with Emmaus.
The Trojans opened up decisive leads in the first and second games at the seven-point mark. With Emmaus trailing 7-6 in both games, Parkland would storm ahead to a 14-8 lead in game one and open up a 20-9 lead in the second game before.
Those runs helped solidify coasting wins before they mustered out a three-point victory in the final contest.
“A lot of times, it takes us awhile to get into a rhythm,” Trumbauer said. “I told our guys in the huddle before hand to start slow and usually around that point of the game, we start to take over.”
With the Trojans winning the LVC title last year, their hopes of repeating are expected, but Trumbauer also wants this new group of players to taste postseason success.
“This isn’t the same team from last year and we have a lot of new kids,” he said. “It’s nice to repeat, but I want this group to get it. Becahi is going to play us tough and that’s what we expect at this point of the season.”
District pool play begins Thursday at Liberty and continues next Monday.
The district semifinals will take place next Wednesday with finals to follow on Thursday.