Catherine Rabatin wins again. The Comet senior cruised through the District Three 3A singles bracket on Friday and Saturday at Hershey Racquet Club and in the process became the first girl to win four 3A district crowns.

Rabatin blanked Valaria Sanchez of Reading Friday afternoon and almost shut out Hershey's Angelina Berg in the quarterfinals, winning 6-2, 6-0. On Saturday, the four-time L-L League champ dominated again, topping Cumberland Valley freshman Riya Srinivas 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, setting up a classic 1 v 2 in the finals. Rabatin buckled down and made history, defeating Anya Rosenbach (New Oxford) 6-2, 6-4.

"Riya trains out of RCW and this was the first time Catherine met her," said head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski. "She was a hard hitter and was able to handle Catherine's pace for the most part but ultimately, Catherine's experience at the district level worked in her favor.

"Catherine has played Anya before," she continued. "Their playing styles are similar. Both have very hard and heavy forehands and they are super agile and quick on the court. This was an amazing match to watch," she continued. "Points were constructed very smartly for both players but again, Catherine just has the pace and experience and was able to stay focused and finish off more points. Her ace count, just for serves, for the weekend was nine."

Next up for Rabatin is a trip to the PIAA tournament which gets underway November 4-5. The Comet senior finished in fourth place as a freshman and was third in her sophomore year.

"Her junior year she lost in the quarterfinals," said Pryzbylkowski. "That may have been a blessing in disguise. She is more focused this year and knows what needs to be done between now and States. Her confidence on the court is different than last year. You can tell she really wants it."

GOLF

Also in the post-season, Jesse Shue made his PIAA State Championship debut on Oct. 17-18 at Penn State. The sophomore carded a pair of 77s and finished tied for 32nd.

"He had a great round, especially for a sophomore," said head coach Tom Reustle. "The weather was cold and windy on Tuesday but he hung in there.

"Jesse was the leader of the team this year," he added, "and one of the top players in the section. He has a tremendous work ethic and two more chances to get back to states!"

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross country teams competed in the L-L League championships on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Ephrata Middle School and came away with one medal winner. Kaleb Kabakjian, a junior, finished in eighth place overall, improving on last year's 23rd place finish.

"We are very excited for Kaleb," said head coach Andrea Kramer. "He has led the boys all season."

Also contributing to Manor's 8th place team finish was Tristan Weaver (53), Carter Vinson (65), Aidan Gerlach (79), Jack Hightower (82), Donovan Landis (85), Jack Steele (114) and Chase Bearden (148).

"Carter, Aidan, Jack and Donovan were only separated by 15 seconds which definitely gave the team the boost they needed to qualify for districts," Kramer added.

Mackenzie Nafziger ran a PR (21:19) and finished in 34th place. She was followed by Abby Ames (53), Alyssa Eby (76), Bethany Hetrick (80), Madison Martin (85), Charity Hetrick (95), and Polina Balkenhol (98). The Comets finished in 14th place overall.

"Alyssa, a freshman, had an amazing day, going under 23 minutes for the first time," said Kramer. "Bethany also improved her place and time by two minutes from last year. Mackenzie, Abby, Alyssa, and Bethany all qualified for districts."

FIELD HOCKEY

After dropping the Section One finale to Manheim Township, Wed. Oct. 12, the Comets traveled to Palmyra where they were handed their biggest loss of the season, a 4-2 final on Friday, Oct. 14.

The Cougars scored in the first quarter and Manor answered when Tristan Groff assisted Izzy Thatcher with 7:35 left in the half.

The hosts took their second lead of the day in the third, making for an exciting fourth quarter. Over a stretch of about 12 minutes, three goals were scored, unfortunately two of them were sandwiched around Groff's tally which came with 9:16 left and cut the lead to 3-2. Palmyra made it 4-2 with 5:05 on the clock. It was Manor's third loss of the season.

"We definitely had two tough losses, but the competition was very helpful in preparation for the post-season," said head coach Rachel Suter. "We came away with learning experiences that will make us better in the long run."

It didn't take long for the field hockey team to regroup. Last Monday and Tuesday the Section One co-champs crushed Lancaster Mennonite 8-0 in the opening round of the L-L League playoffs and then dominated Garden Spot 4-0 in Tuesday's semifinals.

Groff and Liz Bustillo each scored twice as Manor led the Blazers 6-0 at the half. Grace Gerner, Annie Bibus and freshmen Chloe Hook and Joelle Kroesen also scored.

Manor scored once in each quarter to defeat the Spartans. Gerner, Bustillo, Thatcher and Groff accounted for the offense.

Adeline Arkhurst netted a combined six saves in the shutouts.

"The girls are doing a great job of implementing the changes we have been making," said Suter.

VOLLEYBALL

After dropping a tight 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-23) first half loss to Conestoga Valley, the volleyball team, gearing up for the post-season went toe-to-toe again with the Bucks and this time pulled out a 3-2 thriller Thursday, Oct. 13.

"We shifted our defensive style," said head coach Tim Joyce. "It took two sets, but we finally wore them down. I think they just got tired from not being able to put the ball away."

Despite a match-high 17 kills from Manor's Lezlie Nguyen, it was the Bucks taking control early, winning the first set 25-21 and the second 25-23. Manor returned the favor, winning the next two by the same 25-21 margins. In the must-win fifth set, the Comets won 15-12.

"Lezlie had a great offensive night," said Joyce. "And three other players contributed to the bulk of the offense too with Jillian Kloc (11), Cassidy McCollum (10) and Brianna Lee (7) adding key kills."

McCollum (17 digs) chipped in a match-high 9 aces while Lee (2 blocks), Jordan Bailey (35 digs), Janelle Bowmaster (14 digs), Maggie Garvey (10 digs), and Elaina Knaub (4 aces, 40 assists, 16 digs) also contributed.

"Cassidy is our only senior and she was a big part of the motivation on our senior night," said Joyce. "Everyone was focused and determined."

In non-league competition on Saturday, the Comets handled York County Tech 25-15, 25-14, 25-15.

"It was a good chance to get some experience for our more novice players," Joyce said. "Sophomore setter Alyssa Mattern had a chance to sub in and run the offense for a bit and did a nice job, putting up 14 assists."

The Comets took care of business Monday, topping Warwick 25-11, 25-19, 25-17 on the strength of Nguyen's 12 kills and Knaub's 5 aces.

FOOTBALL

Wilson's 56-7 victory over Penn Manor in Millersville Friday, Oct. 14 leaves the Bulldogs (6-2 overall) with an impressive 31-0 record against the Comets, who fall to 4-4 overall.

Cameron Jones scored three touchdowns on the night- two of Wilson's three first quarter scores and the third, a school-record fifth punt return touchdown, coming just before the half.

"We've never beaten Wilson so we knew it would be a tall task," said head coach John Brubaker.

The Comets, who lost quarterback Eli Jones to injury late in the first half, prevented the shutout with Noah Bolin's two-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Kyle Furnier and Kyle Schmidtke combined for 13 tackles.