PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — They charged onto the floor at Punxsutawney, smiles creasing their faces. Arms raised. Jumping. Hollering with unbridled excitement.
It was wild celebration after one of the biggest — and perhaps most shocking — victories in the history of the Moniteau volleyball program.
(Moniteau celebrates on the court with some fans after upsetting Punxsutawney in the Class 2A semifinal/submitted photo)
The fifth-seeded Warriors were given little to no chance of knocking off No. 1 seed Punxsutawney — not on the Chucks’ home floor and certainly not with so much on the line.
But during a timeout in the first set of the District 9 Class 2A semifinal, Moniteau coach Kaitlyn Loos saw something that made her believe.
Her team believed, too.
“They were like, ‘Guys, we can do this,’” Loos said.
And they did.
The Warriors went on to win that first set. Then grabbed the second one, too.
After losing the third set and falling behind in the fourth late, Moniteau rallied to pull of an improbable 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24 win over Punxsutawney to set up a meeting with defending champion Kane in the title match on Thursday night at a site and time to be determined.
“The feeling is indescribable,” said senior setter Abbey Jewart. “We were so excited.”
Moniteau (11-9) also believed because the Warriors took the Chucks to five sets in a loss during the regular season.
Fifth sets have not at all been kind to Moniteau over the past two seasons.
“Oh my gosh, we’re lost more than I can count,” Loos said, chuckling.
The Warriors didn’t want to see a fifth set again this time around against Punxsutawney.
But trailing 17-12 in that fourth game, Moniteau was staring at that scenario before turning things around to win 26-24 to move on.
“We were down a decent amount in that fourth set, so we weren’t sure if we were gonna be able to come back or not,” Jewart said. “Being able to come back and win it — we were so excited because we don’t have a great track record in fifth sets.”
Marissa Pry had a monster night with eight kills, 11 blocks and three digs to lead the Warriors.
Lily Staab also came up clutch with six kills and three digs. Davina Pry added five kills, three digs and two aces and Sydney Bayless chipped in three kills, three aces and two blocks.
Moniteau was able to control Punxutawney’s big hitters at the net with Marissa Pry leading the way.
“She’s not normally our main blocker,” Loos said. “She was tonight when we needed her the most, which was amazing. And our sophomore, Lily, in that first game I was like, ‘Yes. She’s on and she needed a night to be on and it was tonight.”
Moniteau will play for a D9 title for the first time since 2003. The Warriors won it that year.
Last year, Moniteau won just two matches and this year started slow, but has gone on a hot streak down the stretch and in the playoffs.
“I’m so proud of them,” Loos said. “We’re playing the best volleyball that we have played and it’s not better time than now.”
Davina Pry said she was still in shock after the match.
“It honestly doesn’t feel real,” she said. “We have worked really hard for this and it feels good to see it pay off. I think we have a great group of girls this year that all bring something different to the team.”
Loos and Pry both said the closeness of the team has helped them reach this D9 final.
“We believe in each other and it’s not an individual thing whatsoever,” Loos said. “Everybody has to pull their own weight and they all believe in each other. They all know they can do it. They just have to trust each other.”
The Warriors will enter the final like they have the last two playoff matches, Loos said.
With the feeling they have nothing to lose, that they are playing with house money.
“We’ll be the underdogs,” Loos said. “That’s fine. It’s working for us and we’re just going to keep doing what we know how to do. Grind.”
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