NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Caylen Rearick wondered, “Could it be happening again?”
(Redbank Valley’s Caylen Rearick, left, and Taylor Ripple were named Hager Paving Incorporated co-players of the game.)
That thought was prevalent, if unspoken, in the Redbank Valley volleyball huddle after the Bulldogs had watched another 2-0 lead against rival Keystone evaporate into a 2-2 tie heading into a fifth set at home on Thursday night.
“There definitely was a lump in our throats,” said Rearick, a senior libero.
This match played out like the last showdown between the two teams all the way back on Sept. 6. In that match, Redbank also stormed out to a 2-0 lead with dominant play, only to have Keystone regroup and rally to tie it to force the decisive fifth set.
But unlike last time when Keystone completed the comeback, Redbank rolled in the fifth set for the 25-17, 25-12, 16-25, 20-25, 15-7 victory on Senior Night.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
“We had to pick it up, play together as a team and just do what we can because we know we’re a good team,” Rearick said. “We know we’re good. We know what we can do. We just had to play our game.”
Redbank Valley did just that. The Bulldogs got back to doing what they had done in the first two sets: keeping points alive and winning them with well-placed attacks or forcing Keystone into errors.
The turnaround started in the fourth set.
Keystone jumped out to a 16-7 lead, but the Bulldogs were able to cut that advantage to 22-20 before the Panthers finished off the game with three consecutive points.
Even though Redbank lost that set, it entered the fifth with some confidence.
“Once you’re down like that by a lot and you come back, it gives you so much more momentum to keep playing and just keep pushing,” Rearick said. “So having a big deficit like that and nearly coming back helped us for sure in the final set.”
RedbankValley (9-4) was dominant at times in the first two sets in taking both.
Sophomore Taylor Ripple had six of her team-leading 10 kills in the first two sets to help the Bulldogs gain the 2-0 advantage.
Alivia Huffman had seven kills for Redbank Valley, but they all came in the later sets.
Ripple kept Redbank Valley’s offense going early.
“It means a lot to step up like this because I know how hard I’ve worked,” Ripple said. “I haven’t played volleyball for that long and I have some really big plans for my future, so it means a lot, especially against a good team like Keystone because I know they have a lot of good players. It’s good competition for me.”
“This is by far her best offensive game,” said Redbank coach Ashley Anderson of Ripple. “She had an awesome night.”
So did Leah Exley.
She and teammates Karley Callander and Audrey Burrows helped kickstart Keystone’s comeback with their play at the net in the third and fourth sets.
Exley, who finished with 17 kills, also made an impact at the service line with 18 points and eight aces.
“We came back, we just didn’t finish it in the end,” said Keystone coach Bryan Mong. “It’s a tough loss to take, but you know, they are our rivals and it’s always a good match when we play each other.”
Even with a 2-0 lead, Anderson wasn’t necessarily surprised the match went to five sets.
That always seems to happen when these two teams clash.
“The narrative is five sets with Keystone,” Anderson said, smiling. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less. Our girls really stuck it out. They told me at the beginning that this was their senior night and they wanted this game and they pulled through.”
Not without some drama.
“They didn’t want a repeat of the last game against Keystone,” Anderson said. “But, you know, that’s been our M.O. the entire season. We can’t seem to clinch that third set. But I’m proud of how they played.”
Rearick was dynamic at libero with 25 digs — a lot of them difficult.
Mylee Harmon also had a strong match with 16 assists, three kills and five aces.
It was billed as a battle of the hitters — Huffman vs. Exley — but it turned into a display of how to play libero with Rearick and Keystone’s Kennedy Kaye trading digs.
“(Rearick) stands on her head back there,” Anderson said. “I always tell her before every game to play her heart out. And she does that. She leaves it all out there. Tonight was no different. It was kind of neat to see the two liberos battling it out.”
This was only the second loss for Keystone (15-2) this season and the first since the Panthers fell in straight sets to Clarion on Sept. 13.
Keystone had won 11 straight.
This will be the last meeting this year between Redbank Valley and Keystone. The Bulldogs dropped down a class to A.
Redbank Valley and Keystone have met in the last two D9 Class 2A finals with Redbank winning it in 2020 and Keystone last year.
“I’m kinda upset we changed classes,” Rearick said.
A win like this could bode well for Redbank Valley in the home stretch toward the playoffs in a competitive Class A this season.
“I definitely think this is the win they needed to push forward,” Anderson said. “We’re kind of at the end of the season. We have playoffs coming up and I really think this gave them the motivation and realization that they can do this. They can go far if they stick together and keep a level head.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
