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Dallas looks to make run at Division I

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Wyoming Seminary earns tennis sweep

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Kenny Rexer understands how important he is.The Holy Redeemer senior is always the first Royal to serve. Some may view it as pressure. Rexer, on the other hand, sees it as the ultimate honor.&#8220;I take that lead-off spot as pride,&#8221; Rexer said. &#8220;I have pride in my serves. I have confidence in my serve, and in my teammates in the front and back row.&#8221;The outside hitter/back-row specialist proved to be fantastic in his role. He gave Redeemer early leads in the opening two sets and watched as teammates Mike Conlon and Joe McGraw strung runs in the final stanza. It was a complete effort by the Royals en route to a 3-0 sweep of Crestwood in a battle of undefeated Wyoming Valley Conference boys volleyball programs.Match scores were 25-13, 25-11 and 25-17.&#8220;We switched a lot right after that Nanticoke game,&#8221; Redeemer coach Jack Kablick said. &#8220;I felt there were just two rotations where we didn&#8217;t have enough firepower. We tried it at the 40-team Northeastern Tournament over the weekend and it worked well down there. I think the kids are confident in it, and I think we have a lot of firepower in all of our rotations. We adapted quickly to it.&#8221;Rexer was tough behind the service line. He opened the first set with a 4-0 run. Redeemer then got an early 3-0 lead in the second with Rexer serving.Never once did he flinch. Never once was there any hesitation when he threw the ball up for his jump-serve.Time after time, he just drilled the ball where Kablick wanted.&#8220;He&#8217;s a real good target hitter,&#8221; Kablick said of Rexer. &#8220;We can call any number on the court and he&#8217;ll hit it there nine out of 10 times. In practice, we set up cones as targets and Kenny is just banging away at the cones.&#8221;While Redeemer was efficient behind the service line, Crestwood couldn&#8217;t keep away from the mental miscues.Attack errors. Service hiccups. Lifting or carrying violations.And they added up. The Comets gave Redeemer 27 of its 50 points in the first two sets &#8211; which included 11 service errors from a pretty reliable staff.&#8220;Too many attack errors, and too many ball-handling errors,&#8221; Crestwood coach Mike Williams said. &#8220;Our serving was just off tonight. Two of our better servers were a little off today, and their serving was on. They are a good team.&#8220;I told our kids to take something from this game, and don&#8217;t just put your head down and walk away. We have to get better, and now, we see how we compare to the best in the league. To get better, we have to pick it up in practice and pick up that intensity.&#8221;Those miscues led to Redeemer (3-0) runs.The Royals closed the first set with a 13-4 spurt &#8211; led by five kills from senior Mike Gatusky.Redeemer almost matched that run in the second. This time, a 13-5 boost to close the set &#8211; thanks to timely kills from John Carr, Chris Mennig and Adam Zipko &#8211; put the Comets away.&#8220;Our new lineup involves kids like Chris Mennig and Adam Zipko,&#8221; Kablick said. &#8220;We have to get that confidence in all of our hitters. I think we were relying on Mike Gatusky and John Carr a lot. I believe we have four legitimate, good attackers.&#8221;Crestwood (2-1) played with intensity in the final set. Thanks to the Manship brothers, Corey and Chet, Williams&#8217; squad jumped out to a 5-2 lead and found themselves in a 11-11 tie. But a large run, 8-1, strung together behind the serves of Conlon and McGraw gave the Royals a 19-12 lead.&#8220;I think we were a lot more controlled today. We played well in that tournament at Northeastern, and that was against some of the best teams in the state,&#8221; Rexer said. &#8220;With that experience that we gained there, it helps us when we get into these tough conference matches.&#8221;Royals at major tourneyOn Saturday, Holy Redeemer went south to the 40-team Northeastern Tournament to meet some of the best teams in the state.The Royals were 3-1 in pool play, defeating Garden Spot, Dover and Erie McDowell. The lone setback was to Central Dauphin and IPFW recruit Jacob Kerschner 30-28.Redeemer advanced into the quarterfinals, but dropped a three-set match to Cumberland Valley and Pepperdine recruit Michael Fisher 17-15, 10-15 and 25-12.John Carr had 32 kills to pace the Royals, while Mike Gatusky had 48 kills, seven blocks and eight digs.Mike Conlon added 86 assists in the tournament, while Alex Kotch had 23 digs and 26 service points. Chris Mennig chipped in with 12 kills and Nick James had 18 points and eight digs.Nanticoke 3, Berwick 0Matt Winters turned in a match-high 16 kills and added three blocks and three digs for the Trojans in a 25-13, 25-1, 25-9 sweep.Eddie Lukowski (3 aces, 3 kills, 28 assists, 2 digs), Robert Burke (11 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs) and Brent Piontkowski (6 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig) helped lift Nanticoke.Hazleton Area 3, Hanover Area 2After losing the first two games 25-15 and 25-22, Hazleton Area rallied with three wins to clinch the match. Those scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 15-10.John Murphy paced Hanover Area with 11 points, six kills and 14 digs. Dylan Lunzy had 15 digs, eight assists and seven points. Ralph Roediger had seven points, six kills and two blocks.

Kenny Rexer serves Holy Redeemer past Comets in battle of unbeatens