Hampton finishes as PIAA runner-up after falling to Spring Grove in girls volleyball final

By: Jeffrey Kauffman
Saturday, November 20, 2021 | 6:42 PM

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — Spring Grove spoiled Hampton’s dream season in the PIAA final Saturday, as it defeated the Talbots, 3-1, to win Class 3A gold for the first time in girls volleyball at Cumberland Valley High School.

Individual game scores were 25-21, 25-20, 22-25 and 25-19.

“It is not a disappointing season, and that is how we have to look at it,” Talbots coach Annie Bozzo said. “Only two teams can say they played in a PIAA championship game, and we are one of them. It gave our younger girls some good experience. Our program has never won the first round so there were definitely some nerves. Spring Grove is a good team. I think all of our girls played well, but some things didn’t go our way today.”

Hampton (18-4) won three straight PIAA matches to reach the finals, dispatching Dubois, Armstrong and Freeport in the Class 3A bracket.

Spring Grove (26-1) beat Archbishop Wood, Pope John Paul and Bethlehem Catholic to reach the title game.

Spring Grove won the opening game 25-21 behind the team concept. Everybody contributed, and the setters gave their hitters the opportunity to put points on the board. Naevah and Haley Wolfe contributed mightily in the opening match.

Hampton held in there as Emmy Schrom and Kai Herchenroether were able to get sets and put balls away.

Spring Grove led 21-18 in Game 2, and Schrom took over with two big kills to cut the deficit to 21-20. The Rockets closed it out with two big hits by Navaeh Wolfe. Spring Grove held a 2-0 game lead.

The District 7 runner-up Talbots came out quickly in Game 3, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. A four-point service run by Maddie Ruhland and the Rockets rallied to tie the game at 6.

A later run of points by Schrom and service points from Avery Koontz allowed the Talbots to take a 14-11 lead. They later extended the lead to 17-11, but the Rockets forced a Talbots timeout as they rallied to get within 18-15 behind Hailey Wolfe.

Hampton extended its lead to 22-17. Several Rockets points cut the margin to 23-20 Hampton. After long serve and, Hampton won the third game, 25-22.

Hailey Wolfe led the Rockets to a 12-9 lead in Game 3, thwarting any early momentum by the Talbots. The Rockets extended the lead to 19-14 and later led 22-16. Hampton never quit and played one point at a time, cutting the deficit to 23-19 before the Wolfe twins finished it off with separate kills.

“The Wolfe twins carried us today. We work on different shots in practice and the kids played well as a team,” Rockets coach Liz Zeigler said. “We challenged the kids to get started quickly. We lost the final game in the county tournament, so we took that as a restarting point. I am so happy for the kids and how hard they worked this year.”

Tags: Hampton