Boys volleyball: Amherst dominates fifth set to advance to regional semifinal

AMHERST — It was an instant classic between Amherst and Warren Howland in their Division II regional quarterfinal Thursday.After two hours of volleyball and deciding nothing in four sets, the Comets completely dominated the fifth set to win 23-25, 30-28, 25-16, 23-25, 15-5 and advance to next week's regional semifinal at top-seeded Holland Springfield on Tuesday at 7 p.m.The Comets (17-7) got there by riding the incredible hitting of 6-foot-7 senior Gavin Beckler, who had a career-high 38 kills, with 10 coming from the back row. He added another six block-kills for good measure."My teammates were playing so well, and I was feeling it, so I just started calling for the ball hoping it would all work out," Beckler said. "A five-set win like this over such a good team is huge for our program. (Howland) had such good hitters and we just had to keep fighting through defensively."It looked like the Comets might grab the first set, leading 23-21 on the strength of four kills by senior James Ludwig, but the Tigers (19-5) scored the final four points on a couple of Amherst errors, an ace by Freddie Rivera and a Wesley Fee kill.It appeared the second set might go the way of the first with the Comets once again leading 23-21 as Howland battled all the way back to tie things at 25.That's when Beckler started taking over the game with four kills down the stretch as Amherst pulled out the 30-28 win."If we don't win that second set, I'm not sure the match would go the way it did for us," Comets coach Felicia Sanchez said. "The grit, fight and heart that we saw in the second set is the way we have been playing all year. No matter the score, this team keeps fighting and playing hard."The third set easily went the Comets way as Beckler went wild at the net with 12 kills and Amherst ran out to a 16-9 lead and never looked back.Howland wasn't done though, revering things with a 20-13 lead as Fee picked up four of his team-high 20 kills.The Comets came back to tie things at 23, but once again Howland scrapped its way to a win on kills by Fee and Keaton Perry.What should have been a nail-biting fifth set, turned into a laugher for the Comets as junior Joe Penano rattled off the first 12 service points on three Beckler kills, a pair of kills by Mason Lymer and five aces."I was watching that fifth set as a fan, I just wanted to watch the run keep going," Sanchez said. "Joe Panano is one of our most consistent players, he's the heart and soul of our team ... I'm so happy he got to do that."Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com.