Samantha Saver Siddi, 17, from Ugginakere village in Mundgod taluk, considered by Dhanasanjayan as the best female boxer, shared her experience: “When I first arrived here, I missed my family and our traditional food, which includes a lot of meat, seafood, and even a special red ant chutney. But now I’m accustomed to the food provided here, especially since we get chicken and eggs daily.” The communal housing arrangement has further fostered their orientation and enthusiasm for prolonged training in Bengaluru.
Cedar Crest got some payback.
Manheim Central did not get a three-peat.
And the Falcons — relentless and defensive-minded from the first serve until the final point — raised the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys volleyball championship gold trophy for the first time in program history on Thursday night.
Blocking with authority and digging out seemingly everything in sight in the back row, Cedar Crest topped the Barons 3-1 in a sensational finale at Ephrata Middle School. Set scores were 25-18, 25-20, 16-25 and 25-19, as the Falcons snapped Central’s two-year reign over the league — and handed the Barons their first setback this spring.
“Fantastic,” said Cedar Crest’s Jack Wolgemuth, who had 15 kills and 15 digs. “This is what we’ve been pushing for. This is what we’ve had our eyes on since the beginning of the year.”
The Falcons (18-2 overall) finished the job, thanks in large part to a monster defensive effort.
“We had to (defend them),” Cedar Crest coach Monica Sheaffer said. “They’re a phenomenal attacking team. Going into practice I told the guys that if we’re going to beat them, we had to put up a block and read them. We had to play defense. That was our biggest thing.”
Cedar Crest poses with the trophy after beating Manheim Central 3-1 to win the L-L League boys volleyball championship at Ephrata Middle School on Thursday May 15, 2025.
Cedar Crest, fresh off its first Section 1 title in program history, was playing in an L-L title match for the first time, and the Falcons soared. Using a 3-0 nonleague setback at Central back in April as motivation — and defending passionately throughout — Cedar Crest got its revenge, withstood the Barons’ third-set punch, and happily accepted the gold medals at center court in front of packed house.
“This means absolutely everything,” said Cedar Crest setter Ryder Rohrer, who teed up 47 assists. “This feels so great. Very, very rewarding”
Aidan Vukovich sparked Cedar Crest in the first set with seven of his 14 kills. It was 15-15 when the Falcons surged; Tate Tadajweski (10 kills, 17 digs) and Wolgemuth had back-to-back kills to spur Cedar Crest’s set-ending 10-3 run and the Falcons had the early momentum, up 1-0 after stuffing the block and dig columns.
“We lost the first one 3-0 to them,” Wolgemuth said. “We did not want to lose the second one. Our defense was something like I’ve never seen before tonight. We picked everything up. Even if we just got a touch. That was going to be the biggest part of the game.”
Cedar Crest, riding momentum and continuing to block and dig at breakneck pace, never trailed in the second set, when Jacob Alnoor had six kills. Alnoor (12 kills, four blocks) also set up set-point when he blocked Central’s all-star middle hitter Landon Mattiace at the net. Alnoor had another block, and Tyler Hackleman’s ace helped the Falcons pull away late in the second for a 2-0 lead.
“Extremely huge,” Rohrer said. “We were able to play loose and play confidently. Having that early lead really helped us.”
Central (17-1) rose to the occasion in the third behind Weston Longenecker, who had five kills and two blocks. After not leading since 5-4 back in the first set, the Barons seized control with a 5-0 run — three points on blocks, two by Longenecker — and Central, the back-to-back-to-back reigning Section 2 champ, closed it out when Reagan Miller (20 kills) had a block, and then he sizzled a kill off a pretty feed from Dylan Musser, who set up 39 assists.
Longenecker had kills on two of the last three points to cap it, and the Barons were within 2-1 and still in it.
But Cedar Crest bolted to a 17-10 lead in the fourth. Central had one last salvo, getting two blocks from Blake Neiles and an ace from Mattiace, who piled up 13 blocks. But the Falcons stopped the bleeding on Tadajweski’s kill. Later, Wolgemuth’s kill set up match point, and Vukovich clinched the title with a kill.
“Blocking and defense, I thought (Cedar Crest) was outstanding,” Central coach Craig Dietrich said. “Everything was hard tonight. Everything. We even struggled to get points in transition. Maybe it was also a lot of motivation from the last time we played them. But hey, they played like champions here tonight. We tip our caps to them.”
Cedar Crest, with plenty of positive momentum, now heads to the District 3 Class 3A playoffs as the No. 3 seed. Central will be the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A bracket — with motivation to get back to the finals after falling there last spring.
![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)
TWITTER-X: @JeffReinhart77
INSTAGRAM: JeffReinhartLNP
MORE L-L LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL COVERAGE
