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Lehigh Valley IronPigs spoil RailRiders’ Chad Green’s stellar pitching outing

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Next level awaits for Christian Hackenberg and fellow Penn State draft hopefuls

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; Debbie Gavin calls it old-fashioned coaching, and she constantly works on it in practice.</p><p>When a ball is hit toward your side of the court, you find it. Whether that means a full-out sprint, digging it off the net or just diving on the hardwood floor. No matter what, nothing touches the floor.</p><p>She may call it old-fashioned coaching. Others just find it flat-out frustrating.</p><p>Nanticoke took away several crucial Wyoming Valley West points because of hustle and determination, and the Trojans &#8211; behind a 15-kill effort from senior Brent Piontkowski &#8211; won its seventh straight, 3-0, Wednesday in volleyball.</p><p>Set scores were 25-19, 25-21 and 26-24.</p><p>&#8220;The past two home games, they have really impressed me,&#8221; said Gavin, the Nanticoke head coach. &#8220;They are just so focused and go after every ball. Our setter is very quick, and that helps. Sometimes, they may have a late start after the ball, but you just know they are going to give it their all to get to it. I knew that Valley West had the intensity to go five sets because they did with Delaware Valley, so I was a little concerned.&#8221;</p><p>Honestly, you know it&#8217;s going to happen. Nanticoke is going to scrap, claw and fight on every point.</p><p>Balls destined to hit the floor are popped back in the air. Ones that get whacked into the net are dug out by Trojans that immediately hit the deck to push it up.</p><p>One sequence late in the third with the set tied at 24-24 sums it up perfectly.</p><p>Valley West&#8217;s Tyler Klienbach put a good swing into Nick Klimchok&#8217;s set. One Trojan defender hits the floor to dig the ball forward. Another GNA player basically runs into his bench to track it down and get a set back to the middle. Junior Justin Casey finds the ball in the air and puts away a kill.</p><p>Two different times, it appeared the Spartans had a sure-fire point. Two times, Nanticoke did what it does best with hustle and all-out effort.</p><p>&#8220;Sometimes, I do think opponents expect the ball to hit the ground, but we are all over the floor getting it,&#8221; Piontkowski said. &#8220;Really, this one was big for us. After we lost to Redeemer to start the season, we told ourselves that we aren&#8217;t losing another game this season.&#8221;</p><p>Of course, timely mistakes didn&#8217;t help the Spartans.</p><p>Six attack errors in the first set. Several ball-handling violations in the second. And a few service errors in the third.</p><p>&#8220;I think the untimely service errors hurt us the most,&#8221; WVW head coach Joe Czopek said. &#8220;Nanticoke didn&#8217;t miss a single serve today, and we kept bring that up to our guys that we can&#8217;t afford unforced errors. I can&#8217;t say that we didn&#8217;t play well. We just had some untimely errors when it came down to it. We have to look forward that we are still going to regional playoffs, and we have to get back to practice and get better each and every single day. That&#8217;s going to be the key to finishing the season.&#8221;</p><p>Nanticoke (7-1) roared to a 25-19 victory in the opening set behind a combined nine kills from Casey and Piontkowski.</p><p>And it looked as if the Trojans would roll into the second, jumping out to a 20-12 lead on a 5-0 run during libero Carlos Castillo&#8217;s serve.</p><p>That&#8217;s when the Spartans (7-3) rallied back. Thanks to six straight points on Adam McCue&#8217;s serve, and two big kills from Kevin Fegal, Valley West used a 9-2 to cut the deficit to one, 22-21.</p><p>But one unforced attack error, and two big Casey kills ended the set.</p><p>Piontkowski owned the third. The Trojans rallied back from three-point deficits twice in the set, including down 20-17 late. He had eight of his 15 kills in the final stanza; one where Nanticoke closed on a 9-4 run.</p><p>&#8220;Every game counts for us. If you lose one game, you can lose your position in the district seeding,&#8221; Gavin said. &#8220;Every single game matters, no matter who you are playing.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area 3, </strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Valley West 0</strong></p><p><strong>Wvw `19`21`24 &#8211; 0</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke `25`25`25 &#8211; 3</strong></p><p><strong>WVW Leaders:</strong> Tyler Klienbach 10 kills; Nick Klimchok 22 assists, 2 kills; Joseph Burridge 4 kills.</p><p><strong>Nanticoke Leaders:</strong> Brent Piontkowski 15 kills; Justin Casey 12 kills, 1 ace; Eddie Lukowski 32 assists.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Joshua Baranowski, left, and Justin Casey attempt to block Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Kevin Fegal in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Joshua Baranowski, left, and Justin Casey attempt to block Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Kevin Fegal in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Eddie Lukowski, right, sets the ball as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Nick Klimchok moves to the net in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Eddie Lukowski, right, sets the ball as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Nick Klimchok moves to the net in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Nick Klimchok, left, sets the ball as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Brinton Ball reacts at the net in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Nick Klimchok, left, sets the ball as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Brinton Ball reacts at the net in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Brent Piontkowski, right, knocks the ball between Wyoming Valley West defenders Tyler Klienbach (15) and Kevin Fegal in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Nanticoke-WVWvb_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Brent Piontkowski, right, knocks the ball between Wyoming Valley West defenders Tyler Klienbach (15) and Kevin Fegal in WVC boys volleyball action Wednesday afternoon in Nanticoke. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></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>

H.S. Boys Volleyball: Nanticoke nabs 7th straight win