Gov. Mifflin claims county crown

Few in the Berks County volleyball community expected the Gov. Mifflin boys to be holding the BCIAA championship trophy this spring.

But they did.

“We knew we could do it,” setter Jonathyn Ebling said. “We played all summer. We played club volleyball in the fall and the winter. We were challenged. We were pushed. There were a lot of doubters. No one but us expected this.”

With no seniors on the roster, the Mustangs turned back Wilson 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19) to win their first Berks League title since 2016 Saturday at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate.

Aidan Young had 18 kills, four digs and one ace and Tyler Knoop had 12 kills, two blocks and four aces for Gov. Mifflin (14-4), which beat the Bulldogs (11-7) for the third time this season.

“This means everything,” Young said, choking back his emotions. “Seeing what we’ve accomplished, it’s so special. We all thought this was going to happen.”

Many of them began playing together a while ago. Mustangs coach Ryan Stubler, who was then an assistant for Matt Davis, went into the junior high school three years ago and put out a call to any eighth graders who might be interested in playing volleyball.

The nine juniors who celebrated the championship Saturday were among the volunteers.

“We’re a strong group,” Knoop said. “We put in the work day in and day out. I believed we could make it here and win it. That’s exactly what we did.”

In the third set with the teams tied 10-10, Knoop had kills on four of the next five points and seven in the set. Aulenbach scored four of the Mustangs’ final seven points in the set and Knoop finished it with a kill off a pass from Ebling.

“Tyler and Jeremiah are a huge part of our offense,” Stubler said. “The middles are the hardest for defenders to read, so I told them every ball needed to go to the middle.”

Wilson again stayed close in the fourth set, trailing 11-10 before the Mustangs scored 10 of the next 14 points to take command. Ebling spread the ball to the outside and middle hitters, and the Bulldogs committed four service errors, including the final point of the match.

For Mifflin, Aulenbach had six kills and five blocks, Josh Wert had five kills, one ace and five digs and Ebling had 43 assists.

“We knew this year was our year,” Ebling said. “We came in as the underdogs. We knew all these teams wanted to beat us. They know who we are now. This means the world to us.”