The Hempfield girls' lacrosse team has been racking up goals at an astounding rate.

In their four Lancaster-Lebanon League matches, the Black Knights have gone undefeated, scoring a total of 64 goals - yes, an average of 16 per game. The latest victim was Penn Manor on Thursday, April 6.

Thanks largely to a five-goal effort by Isabelle Masengarb, the Knights put away the match fairly early, scoring nine of their goals in the first half on the way to a 14-4 victory at home.

Masengarb also provided an assist on the day. Mia Brennan, who notched a hat trick, had two more assists. Natalie Bole and Whitney Hershey scored four and two goals, respectively.

Minding the net was goalie Ella Ashton (7 saves).

Hempfield improved to 7-1 overall with an 18-6 drubbing of Kennard-Dale at home on Monday, April 10.

Hershey (7 goals) and Masengarb (6 goals) were virtually unstoppable. Bole put up a hat trick plus two assists. Brennan, who also had two assists, and Aubrie Buckwalter, each scored one goal.

Ashton finished with five saves.

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL

After a quick start out of the gate, the boys' volleyball team hit a minor skid, losing to L-L League rivals in consecutive matches - the second of which was at Warwick on Thursday, April 6.

"They have an all-around solid team," head coach Kenneth Eiser said of Warwick. "We played a little hesitant throughout the night."

The Warriors won the match in three close sets - 25-21, 25-19 and 25-23.

"The Warwick match wasn't great, and it wasn't bad," Eiser described.

Ethan Earhart notched nine kills for Hempfield in addition to his two blocks. Aiden Beiler finished with 26 assists and Brady Rigard racked up 11 digs. Michael Hester recorded two blocks.

The Knights bounced back following the weekend, posting a 3-0 win (25-11, 25-14 and 25-10) at home against McCaskey.

"It was good to see the boys fight for every point for the entire match," Eiser remarked. "We have had some cases of losing focus here and there, which can lead to some big runs for the other team. We will look to continue that focus."

Kena Bekere finished with seven kills. Rigard hustled for 20 digs and Cole Jackson distributed 28 assists.

TENNIS

The boys' tennis team opened the week with a 5-0 victory at Lebanon on Monday, April 10, with all three singles matches going Hempfield's way in 6-0, 6-0 straight sets.

In doubles competition, Tristan Coyne and Sam Kenner topped their opponents 6-2, 6-0 while Ben Curtin and Ryan Malesic won 6-1, 6-0.

Cooper Lehman, Eric Jordan, and Andre Hurst all blanked their respective singles matches. The Knights improved to 7-0 on the year.

In a close battle with Section One rival Manheim Township two days later, the Knights came up just short, losing 4-3.

The Lehman and Jordan pairing proved too good for the Township twosome of Palandjian and Chiong in an 8-2 number one doubles match. Hurst and Keener came through 8-4 at number two doubles.

While Lehman had a solid 6-1, 6-1 number one singles win and Jordan battled back from a 6-3 defeat to win his second set 7-6, Township's Zach Taylor claimed the tiebreaker 10-5 at second singles.

Keener played close sets at number four singles, falling short in 7-5, 6-4 defeats.

TRACK

The Hempfield girls fell to Cedar Crest 110-40 while in the boys' meet, the L-L League rival pulled out an 84-66 win on Monday, April 10.

"In the girls' meet, depth was a factor in the results," said head coach Curt Rogers. "Our team is young, and we don't have depth in too many of the events."

In the mid- to long-distance runs, the Hempfield boys were once again led by Joe Fahrney, who won the 3,200-meter race, and fellow senior Aidan Hodge, who claimed both the 800-m and 1,600-m events.

"Aidan Hodge is a second away from the school record in the 1,600," Rogers pointed out. "His 4:12.51 was the second fastest in school history and a personal record."

In the 800, Hodge posted a personal record 2:02.37.

The 4x400 relay team also included Hodge, Freedman Spencer Ashba, and Carson Lieberman (1st, 3:33.60)

The Knights also won three field events, including the 9-foot pole vault effort of junior Evan Slaymaker. Seniors Peter Wenzel and Jordan Thode won two of the throwing events with Wenzel winning in javelin at 143-4. In the discus Thode's throw measured 126-6.

Ellison Wolfe legged out a first-place finish in the girls' 3,200 while Mya Thompson dashed off with a win in the 100-m with a personal best 13.3 seconds.

Thompson also had a personal best 27.89 in the 200, finishing third.

Molly Seibert's third-place time of 5:35.14 was also a personal best. Though not necessarily placing among the top finishers, the squad featured more than two dozen personal records.

"On the girls' side, the number of personal records is proof that these athletes are improving," Rogers said.

BOYS' LACROSSE

Just as the girls' lacrosse team has been a scoring force in the L-L League, so has the boys' squad. Hempfield improved to 5-0 (4-0 league) with an 18-9 win at Penn Manor on Thursday, April 6, attaining a 15 goals per game average in league play.

Toby Marco, Jason Hilton, and Zack Antesberger were the leading goal scorers.

BASEBALL

Hempfield defeated Cedar Crest 15-5 in a Section One baseball game on Monday, April 10, at Cornwall.

Drew Benchich and Aiden Rodenberger each stroked RBI singles to put Hempfield up 2-0 in the first inning, capitalizing on a two-out walk and a hit batter.

Though the lead was short-lived - the Falcons scored four runs in the home half of the first - Hempfield's batsmen and base runners produced eight runs in the fourth inning. Highlights included RBI's by Rodenberger, Benchich, Ryan Jackson, Charles Sheerer and Stephen Katch.

Josh Toole's RBI double and senior Brogan Reihart's bases-loaded single drove in runs in later innings.

Rodenberger also provided four strong innings in relief, allowing just one run as the Knights improved to 6-1 (3-0 league).

Hempfield was coming off a solid 5-1 victory at Chambersburg in a non-league game on Saturday.

Sophomore Brody Gebhard was the winning pitcher, going five solid innings, allowing four hits.

Sheerer's bases-loaded walk plated the Knights' final run of the game. Earlier in the contest, Hempfield took advantage of two walks with Fiore's hit scoring two base runners who had been given free passes.