CHAMBERSBURG — Chambersburg was not expecting its girls volleyball season to end this quickly.

The Trojans, the No. 3 seed in the District 3 Class 4A playoffs, were eliminated in a quarterfinal match by No. 6 Manheim Township on Saturday afternoon at CASHS Field House.

Alayna Jones

The biggest reason? The Blue Streaks were consistently strong on defense for the entire match, digging up balls that appeared destined for the floor, sticking out arms to keep the ball alive, returning balls from tough angles and getting enough blocks to keep the Chambersburg offense at bay.

Manheim Twp. trailed by at least 3 points in each of the first two games, but rallied to win, then in Game 3, it led the entire way after taking a 5-4 lead. By winning 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-21), the Blue Streaks (16-2) moved into the semifinals against Central Dauphin (14-3)  on Tuesday and qualified for the PIAA tournament.

Chambersburg finished a very successful season with a 17-4 record.

“It was a tough one,” Trojan coach Ty Frelin said. “They just played exceptional defense, and I think that frustrated the girls a little bit. I saw some film of them, and I just think they played really well today.”

Blue Streaks coach Emily Buckwalter-Roth said, “I’d say we were super scrappy and gritty today on defense, and that’s what we needed against a team that good. We were ready to get low.”

Riley Evans

Chambersburg led 8-5 in Game 1 after an ace by Riley Evans. Manheim Township scored five straight points, two on receive errors, and never trailed again, although the Trojans did tie it at 11-11.

In Game 2, Alayna Jones got hot at the net, scoring on a kill, a block kill and another kill to put the Trojans up 12-6, and a kill by Evans made it 13-8.

But Aidyn Lefever scored a kill for the Blue Streaks, and that begin a run of 10 consecutive points for Manheim Township under the serving of Gracie Reinhart, that gave it an 18-13 advantage.

Consecutive kills by Kasey Moser and Jones made it 20-18, but a service error hurt.

Frelin said, “That’s just us. We are an aggressive serving team and we’ll make some errors. But if you dwell on it too much, it makes it worse.”

Then Moser and Jones knocked down kills and it was 21-20. Jones got a point on a tip at the net to make it 22-22 and put Chambersburg ahead 23-22 with another kill.

But the Blue Streaks scored the final three points to take the game, 25-23.

Buckwalter-Roth said, “I think our mental game was good today. We were playing a strong team with a lot of talent, but when we got behind, my players believed in themselves and dug themselves out of several holes. And we stayed strong the whole match.”

“I thought we played pretty well and we showed some heart coming back after they had that long run,” Frelin said.

In the third game, Jones put down two straight kills (she led Chambersburg with 13) to bring the Trojans within 8-7, but the Blue Streaks ripped off another 6 in a row, with Reinhart contributing three kills, to go ahead 14-7.

Moser had three kills late in the game as Chambersburg crept to 21-22. But another service error halted the momentum, and Reinhart finished it off, 25-21, with a tip that fell in.

“I thought Moser had some timely kills,” Frelin said. “This time of year, the matches are point-to-point and the will be difficult. We were hoping to be playing for another week, but I told the girls that they can’t let this match define their season.”

Blue Streak leaders: Kills — Emily Edelman 12. Assists — Danee Engroff 26. Aces — Rachel Towers 3. Digs — Reinhart 18. Blocks — Leilani Stauffer 1.5.

Trojan statistics: Kills — Jones 13, Marah Lehman 9, Moser 7. Blocks — Evans 3. Assists — Ava Zeigler 30. Service points — Karley Skultety 6, Lehman 6, Jones 6, Evans 6. Digs — Skultety 15, Lehman 15, Cami Bender 12.