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By Sam Butler, Sentinel Reporter, May 13, 2008

Last updated: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:47 AM EDT

Cumberland Valley and Carlisle have quite a storied rivalry.

Tuesday another chapter was added when the Eagles and Thundering Herd took the floor to decide the 2008 Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division title, the No. 1 seed to the Mid-Penn Tournament Thursday at Gettysburg High School.

CV won its second Commonwealth Division title in head coach Scott Reynold’s tenure and redemption from an earlier season loss with a 3-2 (25-15, 24-26, 25-17, 22-25 and 15-11) win over the Thundering Herd in an intense filled five-game match.

“You win, you win,” said Eagles head coach Scott Reynolds. “You don’t want to take a loss on senior night. The last time these guys were in the dome and setting up for Thursday. You don’t want to do that. If you lose then you really start wondering how that’s going to affect them Thursday and what that’s going to do. And playing well Thursday is what really matters in deciding where you go for districts and beyond that.”

“Yeah this was a big game,” said Carlisle head coach Mike Beachy. “We knew they would come out strong on senior night in their gym. But we played them well last time so we knew we could play with them. But this time it was a little different. This time we got them a full strength.”

Full strength meant that CV senior outside hitter Andrew Dentler was back on the court. On April 15, a Herd 3-1 win, Dentler was out with an injured ankle. Tuesday Dentler was back for his fifth consecutive match after the injury and feeling better with each passing game.

While Dentler made his presence felt with a game-high 24 kills, he put the Eagles on his back in the deciding fifth game when his team needed it the most.

“It’s the most fun part,” said Dentler of stepping up in a big game. “I love fifth games. I mean, unless we can win in three.”

While the Eagles have not played many fifth games this season, sweeping eight of its 15 matches, there have been three times the team needed five games to get the job done, twice against Central Dauphin and Tuesday night.

“It was almost the exact same thing against Central Dauphin,” said Dentler. “When we knew it was going to five here, we decided to do the same thing again.”

Using Dentler as the go-to-guy paid off just like the match against CD, as Dentler paced the team with five kills in the fifth game and got so many swings you had to count on all your fingers, toes and then your fingers again.

“He’s that type of player,” said Beachy. “There’s not much more you can say. He was the difference and when you have a player of his quality you need to have an answer. And there aren’t many answers out there for him.”

Carlisle has Kyle Adams, who had four kills of his own in the fifth game, and at times went swing for swing with the Eagles’ big man.

“It’s fun,” said Adams of matching up with a Div. I volleyball recruit. “Those big kills get teams pumped up and when you answer with one of your own its great.”

“We didn’t come out and play exactly the way we wanted to,” said Reynolds. “And (Carlisle) played well. Our hats are off to them. We had a nice little timeout and I gave them a little advice in game five when we came out and it looked like it was just a bundle of nerves.”

Dentler led all hitters with 24 kills, seven digs, five blocks and one ace. Ricky Pfisterer added 12 kills, 12 digs and two aces. Justin Stoner and Ed Klepper combined for 11 kills, seven blocks, five digs and one assist. Jeff Gring added four kills, 15 digs and three assists. While Drew Kalbach served up 46 assists one kills, four digs and three blocks.

Adams paced Carlisle with 16 kills, 10 digs, six blocks and one ace. Eric Love and Nate Wysocki combined for 16 kills, five blocks and seven digs. Ed Benish served up 33 assists, one ace and two blocks. Justin Beachy finished with 25 digs in the loss.

Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome Cumberland Valley and Carlisle already qualified for the Mid-Penn and District 3 Tournaments. They are joined by Central Dauphin and Cedar Cliff. The Mid-Penn tournament starts Thursday at Gettysburg High School. Opening matches are scheduled to start at 5:30 with the final matches slated for 7:00.

“It feels pretty good,” said Dentler of winning the Commonwealth. “But we’ve still got a lot of work to do. I’m not trying to soak it up. I mean we’ve got practice (Wednesday) and its back to work Thursday.”