The perfect season continues for Exeter.
The top-seeded Eagles defeated third-seeded Manheim Central 3-0 in the District 3 Class 2A boys volleyball championship match on Thursday night at Reiffton.
The game scores were 25-22, 25-20 and 25-18.
“Ten times better (than the county championship)”, senior co-captain Chase Nugent said about how it feels to win a district title. “We were back for revenge this year and wanted this really badly. Had no nerves going into this game and knew we just needed to get it done.”
The Eagles (21-0) ended a 17-year district title drought with an overall dominant performance against the Barons (15-1).
“Words can’t really describe it,” Exeter coach Matt Hadley said. “I’m just proud of the kids the way they’ve competed all year. Every time they step on the court, I feel like we get better, we grow, and again, words can’t really describe the feelings and the emotions. Proud of what they’ve done, and we’re not done.”
Just a year ago, each of these teams faced off in the semifinals when Manheim Central hopped to a 2-0 set lead.
That is when Exeter put together an incredible comeback and won the final three sets to move on to the championship match against Lower Dauphin. The Eagles would go on to lose 3-0.
However, with another year of experience for the Eagles, this year proved different.
Both teams traded points in the first set, as the Barons held a 19-18 lead. That is when the Eagles went on a 5-0 run to regain the momentum.
Exeter, which has not lost a single set all season long, held on to take the first set 25-22.
In the second, the Eagles faced their biggest deficit of the season, going down 14-7 after taking a timeout to regroup.
“He (Hadley) just said to focus on what we’re doing,” Nugent said. “We’ve been in this situation before, not this year as much but last year. We were down 10-1 and we came back and ended up winning the set. We lose no confidence and play as a team.”
The timeout served its purpose as the Eagles began to rally a comeback, outscoring the Barons 18-6.
“They were getting some good touches over there and played good volleyball,” Hadley said. “I had complete confidence in them, at no point in my mind did I think we were out of the set… It shows their commitment, focus and will to never give up.”
The set was secured by a T.J. Gibb kill as the Eagles bench stormed the court in excitement.
For the Eagles, Gaige Gabriel had 14 kills and two aces, Nugent had nine kills and Ashton Wilson had six kills.
The last time Exeter won a district title was in 2007 when they defeated Northeastern 3-0 by game scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-20.
The Eagles season is far from over according to Hadley and his team, as they have their sights set on a PIAA Class 2A boys volleyball championship.
Exeter will take on the third-place team from District 12 in the first round of the state playoffs on Tuesday June 4.
“We feel very confident but we need to keep a level head, play as a cohesive unit and get stuff done,” Nugent said.
“They know what we can achieve if we can control our side of the court,” Hadley said. “I want to see them continue to grow as a team. We are very fortunate, in my opinion, we have six or seven of the best players in the state at each position… I just want to see them go out and play with confidence and take care of business on our side.”
Source: Berkshire mont