It should come as no big surprise that the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s last two links to the District 3 playoffs are Cedar Crest and Manheim Central.
The Falcons clipped the Barons in the league championship match back on May 16, and those two teams will resume district play on Tuesday.
It was a surprise, however, how many L-L League squads were eliminated so quickly in the district brackets. Four Class 3A teams alone suffered first-round exits.
Section 1 runner-up Warwick (3-2 heart-breaker to Northeastern York), Hempfield (3-1 to Mechanicsburg), Penn Manor (3-0 to top-seeded Cumberland Valley), and Section 2 runner-up Cocalico (3-0 to Central Dauphin) were all sent packing on the first night.
Two L-L teams picked up first-round victories in the Class 2A bracket; Northern Lebanon beat Harrisburg Christian Academy 3-1 and Lancaster Mennonite blanked Hershey 3-0.
![Lancaster Mennonite blanks Hershey for spot in District 3 Class 2A volleyball quarterfinals [roundup]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/2a/22ac8363-1102-46c5-a0b9-df36788d946c/682d325f2c1fb.image.jpg)
But the Vikings and the Blazers were eliminated in the quarterfinals; NL fell to top-seeded Manheim Central 3-0, and Mennonite was ousted by Linville Hill Christian by a 3-1 count.
That leaves Cedar Crest (19-3 overall) and Manheim Central (18-1) still standing — the Barons in the Class 2A semifinals and the Falcons in the Class 3A win-or-go-home consolation bracket, after Cedar Crest fell to 25-time district champ Central York 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
It was the second year in a row CY KO’d CC in the district quarterfinals.
On Tuesday, Manheim Central will welcome Linville Hill for a Class 2A Final Four clash in Derbyshire Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
The same night, No. 3 Cedar Crest will host No. 7 Central Dauphin, also at 7, with coach Monica Sheaffer and her Falcons needing a victory to get to the fifth-place match, with that survivor earning the last golden ticket to the PIAA playoffs.
It’ll be do-or-die for the Falcons against the Rams in a matchup of state-ranked teams; Cedar Crest is at No. 5 and CD is at No. 8 in the PVCA Class 3A poll.
The other consolation-bracket match on Tuesday pits No. 8 Mechanicsburg at No. 5 Palmyra. That loser is out; the survivor gets Cedar Crest or CD for the final PIAA slot.
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Tuesday’s Class 3A semifinals will feature No. 13 Northeastern York at No. 1 Cumberland Valley, and No. 6 Central York at No. 2 Governor Mifflin.
CV, the top-ranked Class 3A team in the state, and Mifflin are both undefeated. Sizzling CV has yet to drop a set this spring.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Manheim Central and No. 4 Linville Hill — the tiny school in Gap that has had an unbelievable year in the athletics department — still have some work to do to make states.
The top three finishers in Class 2A snare a ticket to the PIAA playoffs; Tuesday’s other semifinal features No. 3 Brandywine Heights at No. 2 York Suburban.
The higher seed will host the championship match on Thursday. Manheim Central, the three-time reigning L-L Section 2 champ, fell to Exeter in last year’s Class 2A finale, so coach Craig Dietrich and his Barons have plenty of motivation to slam the door this time around.
York Suburban and Manheim Central have been on a collision course for the finale since the Barons blanked the Trojans 3-0 in a nonleague bash back on May 5 in York. Manheim Central is No. 2 and York Suburban is No. 4 in the PVCA Class 2A state rankings.
The Barons are aiming for a return trip to the state finals, after falling there against Meadville last June.
END OF AN ERA
Kudos to Gary Martin for a fine career on Lancaster Mennonite’s bench. The Blazers’ longtime coach has stepped down after guiding Mennonite for the last 12 years.
His final match was last Thursday, when the Blazers fell to Linville Hill 3-1 in the district quarterfinals. It was the ninth time Martin took one of his teams to the district playoffs.
Martin was honored by the school last Tuesday prior to Mennonite’s final home match, a 3-0 win over Hershey in the district opener.
TRUE WARRIORS
Linville Hill (18-2) ousted Millersburg and Lancaster Mennonite on the way to Tuesday’s clash at Manheim Central. That’s after the Warriors’ boys basketball team captured PIAA Class 2A state gold back in March.
There is one player off the hoops team — senior Derian Petersheim — who is now taking swings on the volleyball squad this spring for Linville Hill, which calls the Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference home.
TOP PERFORMERS
* Two great stat-lines for Lancaster Mennonite senior hitter Nik Martiny. He boomed eight kills and added 14 digs, three blocks and two aces in the first round against Hershey. And in the quarterfinals against Linville Hill, he had seven kills, 16 digs and two more aces for the Blazers.
* Cedar Crest senior setter Ryder Rohrer teed up 32 assists in the Falcons’ 3-0 first-round victory over Dallastown. And he set up 41 assists against Central York in the quarterfinals.
* Manheim Central senior hitter Reagan Miller was clutch in the attacking and defensive departments in the Barons’ 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Northern Lebanon with 11 kills and 13 digs — plus a pair of aces on the service line.
* In Warwick’s gut-punch 3-2 setback against Northeastern York, Warriors’ junior heavy hitter Thomas Mejia waffled 21 kills. Alas, Warwick was ousted, one year after reaching the district finals and the state semifinals.
![Here are your 2025 L-L League boys volleyball all-stars, section MVPs [list]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/74/574261ab-cb83-45dd-81d9-c658ca8cf767/680af0b853812.image.jpg)
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