CLARKS SUMMIT — Abington Heights achieved its boys volleyball team goals in reaching state tournament play in the first season under new coach Jesse Edwards.
Once there, the Comets put together one last late surge in the third set before being swept out of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A tournament with a 25-16, 25-13, 25-22 loss to visiting Whitehall June 2.
Edwards said he “had a blast” in his first season as a high school varsity coach after previously coaching on the youth and club levels.
“On the season as a whole, we accomplished the goals we came in with, winning the (Lackawanna) League, winning districts,” Edwards said after the loss to the District 11 runner-ups. “We knew this was going to be a battle. All the District 11 teams are tough.”
Nolan Moore led the Comets with 13 kills in the season finale, but a big part of the team’s success was the balance that was often shown in the team’s statistics, with nearly equal season totals for many players and different leaders from match to match.
“As a whole, we never really had one guy who stood out every day,” Edwards said. “It was always a mixture. We never really knew who was going to lead the team in kills.
“ … We were the definition of a team.”
Edwards had a hunch that would be the case after pursuing the job in the fall and seeing the development of players in the winter.
“We had some club players who played the winter, and they were all sort of equally experienced,” he said. “That was our strength, mixing up the offense.”
Ben Reese had seven kills against Whitehall.
Ryan Horutz ran the offense with 26 assists and five digs.
Billy Johnson had five blocks, and Chris Cummins had a team-high 13 digs.
