Morgan Bienkowski twirls no-hitter as Holy Redeemer continues to roll

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Big ninth leads Buffalo over RailRiders

<p>LEHMAN TWP. &#8211; Twice, Dallas found itself in a hole late in sets.</p><p>Twice, the Mountaineers looked to Jared Thompson in big-time spots. And the junior made both of the pressure-packed swings count.</p><p>Thompson took a nice set from senior Steve Darling and slammed home a cross-court spike to end the second set, and finished the match in the third off another pretty Darling feed. And for Dallas, the 3-0 victory over rival Lake-Lehman Monday keeps the District 2 Class 2A playoff hopes alive in the Back Mountain.</p><p>Set scores were 25-16, 28-26 and 25-23.</p><p>Dallas improves to 3-3, and has now won two straight heading into matches with Tunkhannock and Hazleton Area.</p><p>&#8220;These games are all must-win for us,&#8221; Dallas head coach Nick Diaco said. &#8220;You hate to look ahead, but if we don&#8217;t win some of these games, our playoff hopes are shot.&#8221;</p><p>At times, it was spirited. Twice, the officials needed to meet with captains to settle down the emotions.</p><p>The Lehman student section cheered. The Dallas bench responded back.</p><p>Yet, all the emotion in the gymnasium was off-set by experience.</p><p>Simply put, Diaco put the match in the hands of his senior setter Darling and his two strong junior attackers, Jared and Corbin Thompson.</p><p>Just take a look at when the final two sets got close.</p><p>It was a Darling ace, followed by an almost-picture perfect set to Jared Thompson to end the second set; one where Dallas fought off set point on two separate occasions.</p><p>In the third, the Mountaineers found themselves down late, 22-21. But Darling&#8217;s quick one-timer over the net sparked a 4-1 run to close out the match.</p><p>&#8220;That big kill, it always gives you a confidence boost,&#8221; Jared Thompson said. &#8220;Really, we wanted to win that trophy because this was the first year they had one for volleyball. It was like the Old Shoe Game in football. That&#8217;s a great feeling, and it provides momentum. We started off the season rough, but we are working hard to get it back.&#8221;</p><p>Lehman (1-6), with several first-year players in the starting lineup, was stubborn.</p><p>Jake Corey blocked six shots, and deflected several others as his vertical leap seemed to bother Dallas at times.</p><p>Zack Corey kept swinging, even when shots sailed out of bounds. The senior finished with a team-high eight kills.</p><p>But that inexperience shined at the most inopportune times.</p><p>Ten attack errors, coupled with two service miscues and four violations whistled by the officials, gave Dallas 16 of its 25 points in the opening set.</p><p>And not closing out the second set on two chances? Yep, that&#8217;s just the inexperience of a team trying to find that big signature win under first-year coach Jim Hummer.</p><p>&#8220;Our inexperience does show at times,&#8221; Hummer said. &#8220;Right now, we just don&#8217;t know how to close the door. It showed. I knew they would respond after that tough second set because we&#8217;ve fought back before. We just couldn&#8217;t quite get there tonight. We are getting there as a team. It&#8217;s a completely different one than we started out with in the preseason. Things do look promising for the future.&#8221;</p><p>Lehman didn&#8217;t have an answer for the Thompson boys as the duo combined for 24 of the team&#8217;s 36 kills. Corbin, who missed last season with an injury, had 12 spikes, while Jared also had 12 &#8211; six coming in the third set.</p><p>&#8220;Jared has been our go-to guy. He keeps his head for the most part, and he&#8217;s really skilled. When it&#8217;s a tough situation, it&#8217;s great to have someone that&#8217;s willing to step up,&#8221; Diaco said. &#8220;This game, I think, opened some of their eyes. We have been preaching about the importance of decreasing our errors. And we made some of those same errors, and Lehman capitalized. We&#8217;re just happy that we were able to come back.&#8221;</p><p>Darling chipped in 27 assists for the Mountaineers, while Black Knight seniors Jake Corey and Clay Vasey combined for 11 kills.</p><p><strong>Dallas 3, Lake-Lehman 0</strong></p><p><strong>Dallas `25`28`25 &#8211; 3</strong></p><p><strong>Lake-Lehman `16`26`23 &#8211; 0</strong></p><p><strong>Dallas Leaders:</strong> Corbin Thompson 12 kills, 1 ace; Jared Thompson 12 kills; Steve Darling 27 assists, 6 kills, 1 ace; Joey Fiorello 15 digs</p><p><strong>Lehman Leaders:</strong> Zack Corey 8 kills, 4 blocks; Jake Corey 5 kills, 6 blocks; Clay Vasey 6 kills; Nick Wnuk 10 assists.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Danny Harpersberger of Dallas and Joey Chaga of Lehman try to get the ball to go to the opponents side of the net as the ball balances atop the net ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_volley-1-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Danny Harpersberger of Dallas and Joey Chaga of Lehman try to get the ball to go to the opponents side of the net as the ball balances atop the net ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_volley-2-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jared Thompson of Dallas hits the ball back over Lehmans Chris Ash ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_volley-2-1-.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jared Thompson of Dallas hits the ball back over Lehmans Chris Ash ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_volley-3-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Steve Darling of Dallas watches the ball he blocked fall tp the Lehman side of the net ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_volley-3-1-.jpg</photo2><caption2>Steve Darling of Dallas watches the ball he blocked fall tp the Lehman side of the net ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 4-18-16</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @ TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Twice is nice for Thompson and Dallas