I was in a rush to get home
Certainly, my 5-year-old would understand if we skipped our traditional stop at McDonald’s for a “blue slushy” after gymnastics. Of course, her sad little face said otherwise.
So we pull up to the drive-thru speaker and I ask for a blue raspberry slush in a voice that probably had the entire staff inside the McDonald’s drawing opinions.
I was in a hurry.
Let me explain, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every experience in my 20 years as a sports reporter at The Meadville Tribune. Those who know me well know my greatest passion was covering spring sports. I considered it an absolute privilege to watch and report on softball and boys volleyball in Crawford County.
Needless to say, with two schools I covered reaching the state semi-finals, I was a bit anxious for what was to transpire at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday
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Crawford County has been blessed with so many great boys volleyball players, several of which have gone on to compete internationally. So much of that talent was to be on display in different ways Tuesday at Conneaut Area Senior High School and for me it started with Meadville head coach Nick Bancroft and Cochranton head coach Robert Cierniakoski
Even though it had been years, it seemed like only months prior that I was sitting in the stands, notebook in tow, watching Bancroft and Cierniakoski competing as teammates for Maplewood under the direction of one of the area’s greatest coaches Sheila Bancroft, Nick's mom.
I absolutely couldn’t wait to watch these volleyball masterminds at work with their respective teams now as coaches going head to head.
I knew it would be epic.
I snatched the blue raspberry slush out of the hands of the very nice McDonald’s employee, handed it off to my daughter and made my journey home. It was now 7:02 p.m.
Twenty-eight minutes.
I had 28 minutes to get home.
Please don’t let me get stuck behind a tractor.
I maintained the speed limit (precious cargo in my back seat) and watched as the minutes ticked away. I pulled into my driveway at 7:21, got my daughter out of her carseat and power walked into the house, pulled the volleyball match up on COOL 101.7’s Facebook page from my phone (thank you to COOL) and set it up to air on my TV just in time to hear Logan Walker and Chuck Stopp introduce the national anthem.
| Turns out the drive home was just the start of my anxiety (haha). I was literally on the edge of the couch, sweaty palms and all as I watched Cochranton and Meadville battle in front of a boisterous sold-out crowd. No one in my household was allowed to speak to me. And not once, but twice, I had to ask sternly for my family members to move away from the front of the TV. I was watching volleyball mastery and did not want to miss a single play. |  |
I really didn’t have a care in the world about which team won. I had built pretty good relationships with both Bancroft and Cierniakoski through their playing and coaching days; likewise with several members of their coaching staffs.
But I will admit I was in awe of just how precise Meadville was through the majority of the match. All I could do was shake my head and say, “Wow,” repeatedly, to which my daughter would ask, “What, Mommy?”
But I will admit I was in awe of just how precise Meadville was through the majority of the match. All I could do was shake my head and say, “Wow,” repeatedly, to which my daughter would ask, “What, Mommy?”
"These kids are so good," I told her.
I also kept thinking about just how cool it would be for Bancroft to make a third trip to the state championships in just his third year of coaching (2020 season was cancelled due to COVID). And in all honesty, he had the team to do it again in 2020. Who else has done something like that?
In fact in three years of coaching Bancroft has only lost one match while winning 59.
It was that precision that wound up leading Bancroft and his Bulldogs to the sweep Tuesday night of the Cards. The ‘Dogs have a plethora of weapons and their passing is impeccable. Lower Dauphin is going to have its hands full when it meets a Meadville squad that is already out for revenge on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Penn State. That one loss on Bancroft's coaching record was to Lower Dauphin a year ago in the state final. Lower Dauphin took that match in four sets.
This column was written by Lisa Renwick, long time sports reporter and editor at The Meadville Tribune and frequent contributor to Eight & 322
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