The Exeter boys volleyball team went into its Berks League opener at Gov. Mifflin earlier this month brimming with confidence that bordered on cockiness.
The Mustangs proceeded to stun the Eagles in straight sets for their first win in the series since March 2018, before any of the current players were in high school.
“We went into that match thinking we were going to destroy them,” Exeter senior setter Logan Reber said. “We were very surprised. We got destroyed. It made us realize how much work we had to put in to bring us to that next level.”
Sixteen days after that defeat, the Eagles swept Gov. Mifflin 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 27-25) Thursday night at Reiffton and tied the Mustangs for first place in Berks I with their eighth consecutive win.
Exeter (5-1, 8-1) made far fewer mistakes than it did in its loss at Mifflin (5-1, 7-2).
“Our passing was just terrible the first time we played them,” Eagles coach Matt Hadley said. “You can run the offense better if you’re passing well. We limited the errors. We had 50 errors the first time we played them. We gave them 50 points.”
Exeter showed tremendous balance on offense. Outside hitters Chase Nugent (12) and Gaige Gabriel (11) combined for 23 kills, and middle hitters Kellen Boyer and James “Dutch” Ganster each had seven.
Reber covered a lot of ground to make exquisite sets and finished with 30 assists.
“Logan was finding whoever was open,” Boyer said. “As the game progressed, the ball was spread around to Gaige, Chase, Dutch, myself. We even had Jack (Forry) getting some backside swings. We spread the ball really well tonight.”
Mifflin played without outside hitter Aidan Young, who had six kills in the first meeting but who was on vacation Thursday. Andrew Kue, the Mustangs’ libero, was limited because of an injury.
“We have a very young team,” coach Ryan Stubler said. “We don’t have any seniors. We kind of caught ourselves by surprise a little bit when we beat them the first time.
“It was a good wakeup call to show how good we really are and that we can compete with the bigger teams.”
Also for Mifflin, Jeremiah Aulenbach had five kills and two blocks, Josh Wert had five kills and two aces and Tyler Knoop had four kills and three aces.
The Mustangs never led in the first set and just briefly in the second set. They played much better in the third and took a 19-16 lead, but a rotation error stopped their momentum. They recovered and had a set point, but Reber found Nugent and Gabriel around a block by Ganster.
A Mifflin error was the final point of the match.
“We were looking forward to this,” Boyer said. “It was a revenge game. We lost the first time so you always want to get that back. It’s a county game, so it means a lot.”
Reber also had nine digs, one ace, three kills and three blocks; Nugent had 10 digs and two aces; and Ganster and Boyer each had three blocks.
“Ever since the day we lost, it’s been like a little burning sensation in my heart to get a little revenge,” Reber said. “I really like the players on their team. They’re really nice and great people. It was a great match. It was a lot of fun.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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