For the girls' volleyball program at Hempfield, historically first place has been..., well, a familiar place. This season, the Black Knights have dug in to make certain of the ongoing tradition.

With their 3-0 defeat of Conestoga Valley on Thursday, September 23, the Knights improved to 6-0 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Addison Leber registered eight kills for Hempfield, who posted winning scores of 25-16, 25-11, and 25-18.

Allison Cummings, the team's leader in digs with 12, served up four aces. Joslene Morgan added three blocks while Melody Butzer dished out 28 assists.

GIRLS' SOCCER

With her goal in the 44th minute of the game, Penn Manor's Carolyn Hinkle gave her team all the offense it needed to defeat Hempfield in a Section One girls' soccer match on Tuesday, September 28.

The Black Knights (2-8-1 overall) launched 14 shots on goal to no avail. Hempfield goalie Emileigh Antesberger recorded four saves.

Three days earlier the story was very similar in a heartbreaker at Dallastown. The Wildcats won the non-league match 1-0 on a second-half goal.

FOOTBALL

The Knights came away with a 27-21 victory on the road, Sept. 24, defeating Warwick and improving to 3-2 on the year.

The Knights pulled ahead for a 20-14 halftime lead and tacked on a third-quarter touchdown.

Cam Harbaugh was involved in the scoring of all four Hempfield touchdowns. He sent a spiral into the hands of Adam Acker for a 33-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Cannon Biscoe booted the extra point to make it 7-7. The Warriors had drawn first blood, scoring on Jack Reed's 56-yard scoring pass to Cooper Eckert.

Harbaugh scored on three rushing touchdowns, two of which were sandwiched around another touchdown pass by Reed - this one a 19-yarder to Ryan Fink in the second stanza.

Harbaugh rushed for 208 yards on 27 carries and the three TD's. He also put up 145 passing yards on eight completions. Acker caught six for 84 yards. Andy Garcia had a 58-yard reception and Stephen Katch carried the ball 15 times for 85 yards.

Reed also had a good night, completing 15-of-26 pass attempts. The Warwick quarterback gained 242 yards through the air and threw for three TD's.

GOLF

Sawyer Marten finished second with a one-over-par 71 on Monday, September 27, playing in the L-L League Championships at Honey Brook Golf Club. Marten finished two strokes behind Manheim Township's Emmett Kappesser. Tyler Mitchell of Warwick was third with a 72 while Elle Overly, also of Warwick, won the girls' championship with a score of 79.

Marten's Hempfield teammates Ethan Green (89) and Matthew McCullough (92) were also on the leader board.

Lampeter-Strasburg won the team championship by one stroke over Township, 308 to 309.

GIRLS' TENNIS

Hempfield responded to its first loss of the season by beating Ephrata and Donegal in girls' tennis. The loss was a 5-2 setback against Section One rival Manheim Township on Friday, September 24. Three days later, the Knights topped Ephrata 7-0 in a league match. The next day Hempfield posted a 7-0 road victory over Donegal. The Knights improved to 11-1 on the year (6-1 league).

Alex Gregory bounced back from a 6-2 loss to MT to win the next two sets and claim a team point for Hempfield at number three singles. Lydia Sullivan won in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 at fourth singles.

In the Ephrata match, Sophie Carson and Grace Lehman won the first doubles easily, 8-1. Gregory and Sullivan were 8-2 winners at second doubles while Sabrina DeLeon and Megan Wendell proved to be a winning combination at third doubles, 8-5.

Lehman (6-1, 6-1) and Gregory (6-1, 6-1) were straight set singles winners with Carson's 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 victory sandwiched in between. Sullivan won the fourth singles 6-0, 6-2.

The singles lineup in the Donegal match had Sullivan (6-3, 6-4) at first singles followed by Gregory (6-3, 6-2) Carson (6-4, 6-2) and Lehman (6-0, 6-0).

Carson and Lehman blanked their number one doubles opponents 8-0. Sullivan and Gregory grabbed an 8-3 win while Wendell and DeLeon triumphed 8-2.

FIELD HOCKEY

Looking to climb in the standings, Hempfield (6-5-1 overall) posted a solid 1-0 victory over Conestoga Valley on Wednesday, September 29 with Karly Bervinchak scoring off a Keira Boensch assist in the second period.

The Buckskins dominated in terms of opportunities, which meant that goalie Eryn Murphy (4 saves) was able to step up and do the job time and time again.

A strong defense and Murphy's goaltending (7 saves) helped clinch another 1-0 victory two days earlier as Hempfield topped Warwick on the road.

Liz Williams scored for the Knights at the 8:02 mark of the first quarter, giving her team the eventual margin of victory.

These close victories were on the heels of a 2-1 setback at Manheim Township on Thursday, September 23.

The goal by Kenna Price (Mauren Krauser assist) at the 9:56 mark of the fourth quarter got Hempfield close, but not enough. Murphy recorded seven saves in goal.

BOYS' SOCCER

The Knights improved to 5-1-0 in the L-L League with a huge 3-1 victory over Section One rival Penn Manor on Tuesday, September 28. The previous week, the Knights had suffered a loss to Warwick - the team with whom they share first place in the section. Therefore, this was a crucial win to keep pace with the Warriors.

In Tuesday's win at home, Hempfield out-shot Penn Manor 9-3. Luke Kramer assisted on Hempfield's first goal and made it 2-0 at the 34th minute of the match, capitalizing on an assist from

Nate Schwartz made it 1-0 at the midway mark of the first half. Kramer scored off a Jase Colino assist to give the Knights a 2-0 halftime edge.

After the Comets had cut the lead in half on a Zach Erb goal with five minutes to play, the Knights responded as Nathan Leisure gave his team the 3-1 winning margin.

Noah Felty made two saves to preserve the win.

In a non-league loss to Dallastown on Saturday, September 25, Leisure's goal (Schwartz assist) put the Knights on the board. The 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of the match did not hold up as the Wildcats scored the equalizer 30 minutes later and went ahead to stay 16 minutes into the second half.

Matthew Roth was in goal for Hempfield, grabbing two saves.