By Ian Adler Editor-in-Chief Despite various injuries, ranging from concussions, to muscle injuries, to split lips, and even illnesses, the girls volleyball team has fought to earn a respectable 13-3 regular season record. “I think the girls realize that they have to step it up,” said Head Coach Heather Schoemaker. “We continually tell them you need to do your job. We have a deep bench that is capable of being ready to go into a new position.” The girls are led by their three senior captains, Emily Sterner, Brooke Gladfelter and Rachel Groff. Amongst their responsibilities during the plays, the seniors have to keep the girls motivated and ready to adjust to change. “You just have to keep the girls calmed down,” said Groff. “When it’s 24-23, they’re looking at you and you have to tell them ‘calm down, we got this, take a deep breath.’” “Being a senior, a lot of the younger people look up to us,” said Gladfelter. “And I think we need to show that everything we went through to get to where we are it all pays off. “ Although Coach Schoemaker is focused on taking “one game at a time”, both the seniors and underclassmen can’t help but look forward to their place in playoffs. “I think that we can make it to counties, districts and if we set our minds to it, we can go to states,” said Gladfelter. “But we need to have the mindset that we can make it there, we can’t just think it, we have to actually execute.” There will be a ferocious fight for the playoff spots between Red Lion, Central and Dallastown, the division’s most competitive and rivaled teams. “I can’t say too much because it’s still an open book,” said Sterner. “But if everything goes well, then everything should be in place for maybe districts, possibly further.” Adjusting to change and properly preparing for a sport most definitely requires a lot of hard work, which Coach Schoemaker says “this group has done very well. I haven’t seen that in my four seasons at Red Lion.” “Their hard work is showing off, that they can persevere through adversity when we are given an injury or the flu or infections or whatever we’re given,” said Schoemaker. “They’re continually getting better.” “We’ve come a pretty long way from last year,” said Groff. “We lost some players, we lost some height, but we also gained a lot of players. A lot of players have also gotten more ability and more skill, so I think the start of the season was a little rough, but we’ve definitely improved and I see big things for us in the future.”
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By Paul Jones
Staff Writer The boys volleyball team has a tough schedule planned for this season, but the young team is up for the challenge. Only two players are returning from a very experienced team from last year. Juniors John Longnecker and Bennett Frey are the only returning starters from the 2014 season. Head Coach Ashleigh Reinert talked about about how they fared their league and said, “We have a real good shot at being top three in the league.” Both Central York and Northeastern won state championships, so the Lions are in an extremely tough division. Coach Reinert said that in their league the team could go from third to seventh. The lions are in an extremely tough division with two state champion teams. “All my starters except for Bennett (Frey) and John (Longnecker). And John is going to be playing a different position than he did last year,” said coach Reinert. The team does have some very talented players here and should win a lot of games. This is a team filled with juniors, so while it may look a little inexperienced, it is built for the future. Juniors Dillon Hildebrand, Bennett Frey, and John Longnecker will be some major threats on the court this year. The team also has a very promising freshman, Cole Brillhart, that will be a staple in Red Lion Volleyball for years to come. By Taylor Bosley Staff Writer After finishing the regular season 12-2 the girls volleyball team of Red Lion brought back a silver medal from county championships Oct 21 after earning second place against Delone Catholic. Despite the loss the Lions still have many games to look back on that they can be proud of. Along with getting second in counties, senior Jenna Hevner notes other defining moments of the ladies season including their game against Central. “We were both undefeated at the time so that was the hardest but best game we played,” said Hevner, “Also that was the game we played with the most intensity and we were so pumped.” Hevner also views their senior night game against Dallastown as a highlight of their season. “Dallastown thought they had it in the bag and thought they were going to win,” said Hevner,” said Hevner, “But we pulled through and won in four games.” Sophomore Lindsey Blevins called their recent game against York Suburban during counties a defining game of their season. “It was our first math in counties and they are a very good team,” said Blevins, “But we played very well and serve reserve was good so we shut their team down and we came out on top.” On Oct 25 the Lions traveled to Hempfield for a District match up against Waynesboro and came out on top winning all four games. The season ended for the Volleyball team with a loss to Elizabethtown in the second round of Districts. With the silver medal won in counties and making it to the second round of District play the girls have a succesful season to look back on and represented Red Lion well. “I’m proud of each and every one of them, and they’ll be sincerely missed...” By Ian Adler Staff Writer “They’re ending on a really good note, they all looked fantastic,” proclaimed Coach Heather Schoemaker after the 3-0 victory over the Dallastown Wildcats on senior night. This was the girl’s first win in only three sets this season, and they picked a good night for it. Along with the win, the team congratulated its seniors Marley Vebares, Hayley Barto and Aofie Iaria. Among the seniors were also the two senior managers, Jared Warner and Erik Reiker. Varsity finished the season with a 6-11 record, notably a higher number of wins this season than the past two seasons combined. The junior varsity team closed their season with a total of 13 wins and 4 losses. “I’m going to lose a lot of leadership from these three seniors,” Schoemaker said. “I think each of them brought a different aspect to the team and those three captains led the team in a very good manner. I’m proud of each and every one of them, and they’ll be sincerely missed on and off the court by both players and coaches.” “How do I feel going into next season?” Schoemaker responded with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m very excited. I think we have a nice class of underclassmen coming in to varsity, as well as a nice junior class.” Since their goal of districts this year did not come true, they’re setting a whole new mindset, as they plan to “take one match at a time” next season. Online Photo Gallery: The team raised $1,135.30 for the PA Wounded Wariors on October 3 in first-ever Wounded Warrior Project Game versus West York. See picture -> here. Ian Adler Staff writer Although the girls volleyball team lost their match 3-1 to West York on October 3, the team was able to win big in a different way donating $1,335.30 to the Pennsylvania Wounded Warrior Project. The team and their supporters raised the money to help our country’s wounded heroes. Senior Hayley Barto “really headed the whole thing”, according to Coach Heather Schoemaker. Some of the methods of raising money included selling neon yellow game t-shirts, selling raffle tickets at the game and accepting straight donations for the event. Schoemaker, who is in her second year as head coach of the program, seemed both disappointed yet ambitious. “I think, unfortunately, we were on a rut for the last three matches,” she exclaimed. “With that, they had to push themselves out of that.” The girls have four games remaining, including senior night against the Dallastown Wildcats, and they are ready to win. “With that, we’re more determined than ever. There’s no let up until it says 25 to nothing in our favor,” Schoemaker said. Come out and support the team as they are still just as driven, if not more, to reach their goal of districts this year. Senior Dan Jones (18) By Ben Otte Staff Writer Coming off of a 3-8 season last year, the boys volleyball team will have to be more consistent this time around in order to be a strong league contender. According to head coach Ashleigh Reinert, the consistency and high aggression level will be keys in order to be successful. “It depends how we pull it all together,” says Reinert, “A lot of teams in the league graduated starters so it will be interesting. Our league is very competitive because 4-5 teams are usually state ranked. I am very excited about the season because the guys have great attitudes and a lot of passion for the game. It’s great to be a part of something like that.” |
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