Up next on the boys volleyball calendar is the District 3 tournament, where eight Lancaster-Lebanon League teams are ready to set sail in those brackets.
Ah, brackets. Get your pencils sharpened.
The league finalists snared the best seeds among L-L qualifiers; runner-up Manheim Central is the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A bracket, and L-L champ Cedar Crest is No. 3 in 3A.
First-round matches are on Tuesday. Manheim Central has a bye into Thursday’s 2A quarterfinals. There are no neutral sites this year; the higher seed hosts in every round, straight through the championships, set for May 29 in both classifications.
The top five finishers in 3A will qualify for the PIAA tournament. Just the top three in 2A will get through to states.
The L-L had a pair of district runners-up last spring; Manheim Central fell to Exeter in the 2A finale, and Warwick lost to Central York in the 3A title match.
The Barons ended up going all the way to the PIAA championship showdown, where Manheim Central fell to Meadville. The Barons and the Bulldogs have been on a collision course for a rematch, and with Exeter up in 3A this spring, Manheim Central definitely has a path — a path that could see the Barons face a pair of L-L Section 2 rivals in the district bracket.
Stay tuned.
Manheim Central hits districts at No. 2 and District 10 power Meadville at No. 1 in the PVCA 2A state rankings. Those slots have gone unchanged since March.
The state playoffs get started on June 3.
But first, it’s the District 3 tournament. Here’s a preview.
L-L LEAGUE BOYS VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS, BOX SCORES, SCHEDULES
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DISTRICT 3 BOYS VOLLEYBALL BRACKETS
PVCA BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE RANKINGS
CLASS 3A
Section 1 champ Cedar Crest (No. 3) and Section 2 runner-up Cocalico (No. 10) are in the bottom half of the bracket. On Tuesday, the Falcons (18-2 overall) will host No. 14 Dallastown, and the Eagles (16-3) will be at No. 7 Central Dauphin.
Cocalico is up from 2A this spring. The Eagles’ three setbacks: Twice to Manheim Central in league play, and to Cedar Crest in the L-L semifinals. They’re certainly battle-tested for their first soiree in 3A.
Meanwhile, Section 1 runner-up Warwick (No. 4), 15-time district champ Hempfield (No. 9) and three-time district champ Penn Manor (No. 16) are in the upper half of the draw. The Comets went 4-1 down the stretch to snag the final seed.
On Tuesday, Warwick (10-3) will welcome No. 13 Northeastern York — no strangers to a district bracket with 18 championship banners hanging on the gym wall — Hempfield (10-4) will play at No. 8 Mechanicsburg, and Penn Manor (10-8) has the trickiest draw in the bracket with a trip to No. 1 Cumberland Valley.
Note: Hempfield at Mechanicsburg is a 4:30 p.m. start. All other matches begin at 7 p.m.
Cumberland Valley (14-0) is one of just two undefeated teams still standing in the district, and the Mid-Penn power Eagles, who won the 3A district crown in 2023, and who haven’t dropped a set this spring, are at No. 1 in the PVCA 3A state rankings.
Berks County champ Governor Mifflin (16-0) is the No. 2 seed, and the Mustangs will host No. 15 Carlisle on Tuesday. Mifflin dethroned Exeter in the Berks finale last week.
The most intriguing first-rounder in 3A: No. 6 Central York, which owns a district-record 25 titles — including last year’s eke-it-out 3-2 victory over Warwick — will host No. 11 Exeter, which won 2A gold last spring, and bumped up a class in 2025. That survivor could get Cedar Crest in the quarterfinals if the Falcons take care of their business.
Player to watch: Cedar Crest senior jumping-jack hitter Jack Wolgemuth, a St. Francis University recruit, is coming off a jaw-dropping 15-kill, 15-dig performance against Manheim Central in the L-L grand finale. The Section 1 MVP makes the Falcons tick.
Prediction: Cumberland Valley over Cedar Crest. Here’s thinking the Falcons will ride the momentum of their first L-L crown all the way to the finals. But the Eagles are a different animal.
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CLASS 2A
Manheim Central, looking for some redemption after falling in the L-L title match to Cedar Crest last Thursday, awaits the winner of Tuesday’s match featuring No. 8 Northern Lebanon hosting No. 9 Harrisburg Christian Academy.
The Barons saw their two-year L-L reign come to a screeching halt. Still, Manheim Central captured its third straight Section 2 title, with a 38-match winning streak in league play to boot.
Northern Lebanon (10-10) wrapped up its first season as full-time L-L members with a trip to districts. Win, and the Vikings would head to Manheim Central (17-1) on Thursday.
Lancaster Mennonite (No. 5) is also in the top of the bracket; the Blazers (11-8) will host No. 12 Hershey on Tuesday, and that winner could get another local squad in the quarterfinals: No. 4 Linville Hill Christian (16-2) out of the Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference, will host No. 13 Millersburg in Gap for a first-rounder on Tuesday.
What a school year for Linville Hill, which has already produced a state champ in boys basketball, and a state runner-up in girls basketball and in girls volleyball.
Manheim Central, Lancaster Mennonite, Northern Lebanon and Linville Hill are all in the upper bracket, giving that pod plenty of local flavor — and potential win-and-advance matchups.
The bottom half of the 2A bracket features No. 2 York Suburban, which has a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Trojans are ranked fourth in the state, and they’ll get the No. 10 Schuylkill Valley at No. 7 Berks Catholic survivor.
All things considered, it will take some pretty major upsets for this not to be a Manheim Central vs. York Suburban finale. The Barons blanked the Trojans 3-0 in a nonleague match in York back on May 5. Anything short of a rematch would be a stunner.
Player to watch: Manheim Central senior hitter Reagan Miller pounded out 20 kills against Cedar Crest in the L-L title match, and he’s a reliable pin-hitter — and sizzling jump-serve specialist — for the Barons, who are amped to make some gold-laden postseason memories.
Prediction: Manheim Central over York Suburban. The Barons, who last mined district gold back in 2019, have been salivating to get some redemption in this bracket. It’s theirs to lose. Win three matches in cozy Derbyshire Gym, and they’ll get the gold medals.
X: @JeffReinhart77 | INSTAGRAM: JeffReinhartLNP
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