Volleyball weekend

Over the last 6 years I have become a real fan of volleyball. It all started when my son Sam started playing in 9th grade. He played for 4 years in high school for Hempfield High and still plays club volleyball at West Chester University. A lot of people might not know it but Pennsylvania is a hotbed for developing volleyball talent.

This past weekend Sam & I took in the NCAA Men's Final 4 and championship games up at Penn State. All 3 matches were great with lots of local talent on display. 4 players from the York-Lancaster area played in the Ohio State-Penn State match. Starting for Penn State were Red Land's Nick Turko & Central York's Ryan Wolf with Scott Kegerreis from Honey Brook coming off the bench. Ohio State was led by former Hempfield Star Shawn Sangrey. The Buckeyes beat the Nits 3-1 and then went on to win the NCAA Title with a 3-2 win over UC-Santa Barbara. Sangrey showed why he is one of the best players in the country with 30 kills in the title match. Saturday night was the 3rd championship match that Sangrey had won on the Rec Hall floor. In 2006 & 2007 he led Hempfield to back to back State titles.

We also got a chance, on Friday Night, to see the U-S Men's National team scrimmage at Rec Hall. The setter for one of the teams was former Hempfield and Penn State grad Luke Murray. He helped the Nittany Lions win the National Title in 2008.

College Men's Volleyball is still growing. Starting next year the NCAA will begin sanctioning a Division 3 tournament. If you have a boy who is lucky enough to live in a school district with boys volleyball check out the sport. It is easy to learn and full of action. There is an old adage--volleyball players are basketball players who can't sink a jump shot!

If you want to see some of the area's 2 best teams...head over to Central York on Wednesday evening and catch Central York hosting Northeastern. Both teams are currently ranked #1 in the state in their classification and the Bobcats are the defending AA Champs. Should be a good night for the sport in York County. On Friday afternoon at State College the Bobcats beat the Panthers.