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Crestwood’s Chet Manship (14) sets the ball at the net during Monday’s WVC boys volleyball match at Tunkhannock High School.

Tunkhannock’s Daulton Cavanaugh (11) attempts to tip the ball over the net as he faces off against Crestwood’s Chet Manship in Monday’s WVC boys volleyball match in Tunkhannock.

TUNKHANNOCK – Chet Manship took each swing with precision, picking his spots on the court.

The Crestwood senior hitter used all angles, and showed that he will be a force to be dealt with in the Wyoming Valley Conference in 2015.

Manship finished with a match-high 18 kills, and Crestwood recorded an impressive 17 aces as the Comets rolled to a 3-0 victory over Tunkhannock in the season opener Monday.

Match scores were 25-15, 25-11 and 25-19.

“I think experience made the difference in this match,” Crestwood head coach Mike Williams said. “I think they are in a rebuilding situation right now, and we have 10 seniors. And you saw that experience really show up.”

It was clearly evident from the start.

Crestwood, at this point of the season at least, is further along than the Tigers.

Then again, with 10 seniors subbing in and out of rotations, it’s easy to see why.

For most of the Comets, it’s their third season of play together on varsity.

And it showed.

Passes were a little crisper. Swings weren’t so tentative. Communication was a little better.

“This senior class has come a long way,” Manship said, “especially if you think about the way we were two years ago. We have great team chemistry, and the bond is strong. I think everyone knows and understands their role.”

The biggest difference was the serves.

Senior Corey Manship started the match off with an ace.

Freshman Michael Williams ended it with a jump-serve that darted at a Tunkhannock player.

And the remaining Comets got involved in the act. Chet Manship had six aces, while Michael Williams added four. Corey Manship and Kyle Price combined for three each.

For comparison purposes, Tunkhannock had just four aces and four kills in the match.

“Being aggressive with the serve is one of our major game plans,” Mike Williams said. “We want to be offensively strong, and be strong with the serve. If you can do that, you really take the other team out of their sets. All of our drills in practice include serving. And we hit a lot of serves because of that. It just keeps you in the flow of things.”

The Comets wasted little time.

Chet Manship had five kills in the first set to help Crestwood (1-0) build leads of 10-4 and 20-9 before closing out the stanza, 25-15.

It wasn’t much better for the Tigers in the second.

Chet Manship again dominated at the net and behind the service line with 10 kills and four aces in the set alone. Crestwood opened on a 12-5 run, and ended with a 6-0 spurt in a 25-11 win.

Tunkhannock (0-1) kept it close in the third, leading 5-1 at one point and trailing 14-12 at the midway point. But a 7-1 run put distance between the two teams and Michael Williams’ ace ended the match.

“Our coach always stresses that serving is one of the most important parts of the game, and we always work on it,” Chet Manship said. “I know that my serve game has come a long way, and the rest of the team is also coming on strong.”

Chet Manship added 11 service points and four aces to his total, while Price added 20 service points. Setter Chris Dexter finished with a match-high 26 assists.

Trevor Dunning had two kills for the Tigers, and Alex Clark added two aces.

Holy Redeemer 3, Hazelton Area 0

The Royals won by scores of 25-15, 25-8, 25-12 led by 18 kills from Mike Gatusky and nine kills by John Carr.

Mike Colon (5 kills, 31 assists, 10 points) and Nick James (6 assists, 4 digs, 15 points) also contributed for the winners.

Crestwood 3, Tunkhannock 0

Cre `25`25`25

Tun `15`11`19

Crestwood Leaders: Chet Manship, 18 kills, 4 blocks, 11 service points, 6 aces; Kyle Price, 20 service points, 11 digs; Chris Dexter, 24 assists, 2 blocks.

Tunkhannock Leaders: Trevor Dunning, 2 kills, 1 ace; Alex Clark, 2 assists, 1 ace.