JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com

Had the pleasure of catching up with Cocalico volleyball standout Courtney Reinhold last week. What a terrific player - but a player you might not have heard very much about. With the L-L League playoffs set to open Monday, here’s my column on Courtney from Saturday’s New Era:

You may not have heard the name Courtney Reinhold.

And if you’re a Lancaster-Lebanon League volleyball fan, that would be a real shame.

Reinhold, Cocalico’s jumping-jack senior hitter, is a hidden gem.

Two teams have dominated the girls’ volleyball landscape in the L-L League – Hempfield and Conestoga Valley, who own seven league championships apiece.

Hempfield will try and make it six titles in a row starting Monday, when league quarterfinal play gets started.

Two more teams have successfully elbowed their way into the league’s elite – Garden Spot and Lancaster Mennonite.

Both successfully defended their section titles this season – the Spartans in Section 2 and the Blazers in Section 3, both with unblemished 10-0 marks – and both are ranked No. 2 in the state by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association in their respective classes – Garden Spot in Triple-A and Mennonite in Double-A.

With those four teams grabbing most of the spotlight, it’s easy to overlook a player like Reinhold and a team like Cocalico.

But with the postseason upon us, that would be unwise.

Looking for a sleeper team in the upcoming league tournament?

Then look no further than to Denver, where the Eagles capped an 8-2 regular-season with a fine second-place finish behind Garden Spot in Section 2. In fact, Cocalico was the only team to take a game off Garden Spot this season; the Eagles won a game apiece in each of their meetings.

And in Reinhold, Cocalico has one of the best spike artists in the league. She’s excellent around the net, is an underrated blocker, serves well, and is dangerous from the back as a setter.

She does a little bit of everything for the Eagles.

“Courtney is a leader and she’s a go-to player,” Cocalico coach Jere Kimmich said. “When we’re in the crunch, we go to her a lot, and she usually comes through. She’s just a gamer.

“She wants to win, and that’s been contagious to the rest of the team. She’s a special player. Players like her don’t come around very often.”

Reinhold, a standout club player who is teammates with Garden Spot standout senior setter Maria Horning for the Norlanco team, will play volleyball at the next level, and she’s considering Elizabethtown, Lebanon Valley and Eastern.

But she and the Eagles have some unfinished business first.

“Our goal is to make it to States,” Reinhold said. “So we’re hoping to do well in the league playoffs, and show everyone around here what we’ve got. And then hopefully we’ll move into Districts and keep playing well there.”

Cocalico has never advanced past the first round of Districts, and Reinhold said the team’s goal is to snap that string.

Reinhold has gotten better and better since she took up the game when she was 11. She said her dad was a big influence, and he continues to help her hone her skills.

“My dad has me out pretty much every night doing something volleyball-related,” Reinhold said.

The hard work has paid off. With Reinhold on one side, and senior outside hitter Elise Krick, a section all-star a year ago, on the other, Cocalico’s opponents have a formidable duo to contend with at the net.

“It’s strange because we’re in second place in the section, right behind Garden Spot, and we took a couple of games from them and they’re No. 2 in the state, and we’re not even ranked,” Reinhold said.

“It can be frustrating because not a lot of people know who we are. But it also motivates us. That’s why we really want to show everyone what we’ve got.”

Whom Cocalico has is Courtney Reinhold. And if she has anything to do about it, the Eagles are going to kick up a major fuss in the postseason.