Monday, October 10, at Conestoga Valley High School, Catherine Rabatin wrapped up her fourth straight Lancaster-Lebanon League Class 3A singles championship with a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win over No. 2 seed Kayla Kurtz, of Manheim Township. The win capped another impressive run by the Comet senior who blanked McCaskey's Lauren Snell in the second round and dominated No. 4 seed Jade Flores (CV) 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.

For her efforts this season, Rabatin, for the third time in her career, was named Section One Player of the Year. She is also a four-time League and Section all-star.

"We do believe that Catherine is the first ever four-time L-L League champ," said head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski. "She went 13-0 during the regular season, losing only five games."

Rabatin then joined teammate Erin Shipley in the doubles portion of the tournament. The top seeded duo shut out Johnson and Howard (EP) and then worked a 6-2, 6-4 win over Carson and Gregory (Hemp) to get Kurtz and Miller in the finals. Township's duo handed the Comets their first loss of the season, 6-3, 6-3, avenging a regular season loss.

"Their strategy was to keep the ball away from Catherine and blast shots at Erin," said Pryzbylkowski. "Erin played so well and held her own. They just outplayed us this time. We beat them 8-5 in the regular season and that was one of closest matches we had all year," she added.

FOOTBALL

After a disappointing result against Hempfield, the Comets regrouped, set the tone early, and went on to defeat Daniel Boone 33-12 on homecoming night, Friday, Oct. 7.

"There are a lot of distractions homecoming week," said head coach John Brubaker. "The team handled it well. They accomplished what we needed to do."

Jonathan Osman (3 receptions for 65 yards) picked off Dean Rotter's second pass of the game and returned the ball 34-yards for a 7-0 lead just 20 seconds into the game.

Noah Bolin's one-yard run in the second quarter made it 13-0. Bolin, who rushed for 108 yards, and Osman accounted for four of Manor's five scores. He capped the scoring in the third quarter with a 60-yard burst, following Osman's second score of the night - a 57-yard pass play from Eli Warfel (9/17 for 157 yards) that pushed the lead to 26-6 at the half. Warfel also chipped in with a 4-yard keeper.

"Noah had a nice night," said Brubaker. "And Jonathan is having a stellar season on both sides of the ball. Plus, our defensive line (Jordan Martin, Dhamir Wesley, Kyle Sullenberger and Sebastin Rivera) did a nice job up front and set the tone."

Kyle Schmidtke led with 10 tackles. Wesley had 7 and Rivera added six with a sack. Sullenberger and Mike Evans also recorded sacks.

GOLF

The Comet golfers continued post-season play at the District Three championships at Briarwood Golf Club Oct 7-8. Jesse Shue, JP Radwanski, Seb Elias and Aidan Doyle all competed but it was Shue that kept his season alive by qualifying for the PIAA Championships.

Shue fired a 77 on Friday, making the cut to day two where he finished with a 76 and a 153 total that left him tied for 15th and making the final cut for states. This will be his first state tournament appearance.

Radwanski opened with a 79 and followed with a 77, missing the cut for states by a mere three strokes.

Elias (81) and Doyle (91) did not qualify for the second day of the tournament.

GIRLS' SOCCER

Anouk Landgraff scored just her second goal of the season but it was a big one. Her goal, in the 21st minute, on a pass from Paityn Smith, stood as the game-winner in Penn Manor's 1-0 non-section victory at Ephrata Friday, Oct. 7.

The Comets wrapped up the regular second Tuesday, Oct. 11 with a 3-0 home win over Hempfield, leaving Manor 6-4 in Section One. Carly Keene opened the scoring in the 19th minute while Izzy Kligge and Caroline Hinkle (1 ast) chipped in with second half scores. Smith and Emileigh Antesberger were also credited with assists while Allison Burkholder needed just five saves to record the shutout.

BOYS' SOCCER

Coming off a 1-1 tie against Manheim Township, the Comets were hoping that momentum would lead to victories as the regular season came to a close. Unfortunately, they dropped a 5-2 final against Section Two champ Ephrata (11-1) on Oct. 7 before closing out the year with a 6-0 loss to Section One leader, Hempfield Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Manor fell behind 4-0 against the Mounts before Nicholas Menaquale found the back of the net in the 46th minute. Tyler Hostetter, the team's leading scorer with five goals, and who assisted Menaquale, collected Manor's final tally, leaving the Comets with a 3-12-1 overall record.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross country teams competed in the Gettysburg Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 8 but results were unavailable.

"We're pretty sure Kaleb Kabakjian was seventh but we still haven't received official results," noted head coach Andrea Kramer. "The kids had a great time being in a big meet and it was a nice primer for leagues."

VOLLEYBALL

The Comets found themselves in a couple of long matches over the last week, dropping a 3-1 result at Cedar Crest on Oct. 6 but rebounding with a 3-2 thriller over visiting Manheim Township on the 11th. The Comets had defeated both teams in three sets in their first meeting.

"Cedar Crest had a much better serving plan this time around and our unforced errors kept them close to us most of the night," said head coach Tim Joyce.

Manor dropped the first set 25-23 and the second 25-22 before earning a 25-22 third set win. The momentum did not carry over and Crest pulled away for a 25-16 win.

Cassidy McCollum led with 9 kills and 3 aces. Lezlie Nguyen (8 kills), Jillian Kloc (5 kills) Eliana Knaub (3 aces), Jordan Bailey (3 aces, 14 digs) and Janelle Bowmaster (16 digs) filled the stat sheets.

Against the Streaks, Manor came out strong, winning 25-11, 25-19 but fell short in the next two, setting up the fifth and final set that the Comets pulled off, 15-11.

McCollum was strong at the net with 9 kills, Briana Lee added 3 blocks and Bailey, who recorded 30 digs, served up 3 aces. Knaub was credited with 36 assists as the Comets improved to 6-4 in section play.

FIELD HOCKEY

The field hockey team racked up a 6-0 rout at Hempfield on Oct. 6, and then posted a hard-fought 2-1 nod at CV Monday morning, before suffering a 1-0 defeat against Township on Wednesday in their last league matchup of the season, ending their 15 game winning streak.

Avery Bradburn scored the first goal, the last goal and dished out an assist in the win over Hempfield. E. Bustillo (1g, 1a), Chloe Hook (1g), Liv Cox (1g), Liz Bustillo (1g), Caity McGough (1a), Izzy Thatcher (1a) and Joelle Kroesen (1a) all contributed to the team victory. Adeline Arkhurst needed just three saves to preserve the shutout, Manor's sixth of the season.

On the road again Monday, the Comets fought off a 1-0 deficit with a pair of second half goals and swept the series against the Buckskins. McGough notched a third quarter tally on a penalty stroke while Bradburn got a stick on a reverse shot from Tristan Groff fourth quarter.

"The girls fought for a full 60 minutes," said head coach Rachel Suter. "That is what really paid off."

The loss to Township leaves both teams at 7-1.