Tornado volleyball sweeps improved Shaler

By Sam Tallarico
Eagle Staff Writer

BUTLER TWP — Despite the errors of its ways Tuesday, the Butler boys volleyball team was still able to come out on top.
The Golden Tornado swept Shaler in three games, but a combination of Tornado miscues and an improving Titans squad made things interesting in a 25-15, 25-23, 25-20 section victory.
Butler had dispatched the Titans 3-0 back on March 29, but by a 25-9, 25-8, 25-15 count.
“Shaler played much better than the first time,” Tornado coach Lew Liparulo said, “but we made too many errors. We were not as sharp.”
“Our program is starting to develop,” Titans coach Paul Stadelman said. “We had young guys step up and our seniors have given us great leadership on and off the court.
“We’re improving. We’re getting there and working hard,” Stadelman added.
In the opening game, Butler (7-2, 6-2) raced out to a 5-0 lead and stayed in control until the Titans used three consecutive points to pull to within three at 13-10.
Butler, however, reeled off the next eight points en route to the game victory.
The next two games, though, took a bit more work.
Game 2 saw 12 ties, the latter at 19-all before a Luke Bryan shot and a Shaler net violation gave Butler the two-point lead.
A Butler shot out made it 21-20, but the Titans Mark Zalakar had a service error to push it back to two points.
Butler returned the favor with a service error, but a Xavier Krause kill, a Shaler block attempt out and a Travis Myers kill closed out the game for Butler.
“I didn’t feel we hit the ball like we can,” Liparulo said. “It comes down to athletes executing. I don’t think we were at our best.”
With the third game knotted at 5, Butler scored the next three points, highlighted by a Jacob Black block and tap over on consecutive plays that helped give Butler the lead for good.
The Titans (2-6, 2-6) trailed by as much as seven, 16-9, but a 4-0 spurt — highlighted by kills by Scott Larrimer and Sam Maszkiewicz — made it 16-13.
Butler countered with the next three points, but Shaler scored seven of the next 10 to pull to within two points at 22-20.
But when Myers scored a block on the ensuing play, the Tornado closed out the match by grabbing the final three points.
Krause led the Tornado with 12 kills and 10 passes while Cole Chamberlain and Steve Stauffer had nine assists apiece.
“(Krause) is the focal point of our team, no question of that,” Liparulo said.