KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — The current players on the Moniteau volleyball team weren’t even born the last time the Warriors won a District 9 playoff match.
But on Tuesday at Keystone, that long drought ended.
For the first time since 2003, Moniteau has a postseason victory, downing the Panthers, 25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, to move on to play at top-seeded Punxsutawney in the Class 2A playoffs on Oct. 31 at 6:30 p.m.
(Pictured above, Moniteau celebrates its first volleyball playoff win in 20 years/submitted photo)
“It’s indescribable,” said Moniteau coach Kaitlyn Loos. “I don’t even have words. We’re just so excited.”
There’s been some lean years in West Sunbury on the volleyball court.
Even last season, while competitive in almost every match, Moniteau managed to register just two wins.
This season, all that changed.
And it changed in a big way on Tuesday night.
The Warriors were steady, scrappy and unflappable — even after losing the second set as Keystone drew even at 1-1 and had all the momentum on its home floor.
“Staying up, even when making mistakes,” Loos said as the key to the win over the Panthers. “We had a lot of missed serves tonight and our girls in the past, as soon as we’re down one or two points, they would get down. Tonight it was strictly, ‘Stay up. You can do this. We know you can do this,’ just really driving home that point. Stay up. And they did.”
It resulted in wins in sets three and four and a trip to the semifinals.
Moniteau’s last winning season was in 2006.
Loos, then Kaitlyn Gerwick, was on the 2006 team. Her assistant this year, Trista Staab, was on the 2003 team that won the last playoff match.
“It’s kind of gone full circle for us,” Loos said.
Davina Pry had seven kills and four blocks, Marissa Pry added six kills, five blocks and five digs, and Sydney Bayless had four kills and five blocks as the Warriors were strong on defense at the net.
Audrey Burrows had 11 kills and nine service points to lead Keystone, which started the season 1-4, but played itself into a playoff berth with mid-season surge.
Gwyn Manno, a first-team all-KSAC libero, had 26 digs and also had three aces. Ava Patrick pitched in eight kills and three blocks and Bryanna Mong had eight assists for the Panthers.
For Moniteau, what got it here transpired again.
No Warrior had a huge night on the stat sheet, but many of them contributed to the victory.
Moniteau has a deep bench and utilized it again versus Keystone.
“It helps big time,” Loos said. “Most teams we play, we know what player we have to watch out for. Our team, you have to watch all six of them. You’re not sure which one is going to come up with that big kill at any given time. It could be anybody.”
Abbey Jewart, who has been the anchor and the glue for Moniteau this season as a setter, said that balance is a secret weapon.
“We just really work together as a team,” said Jewart, who was also an all-KSAC selection. “If one of us has a bad night, everyone else picks it up and we kind of work well like that. We don’t have anyone who is gonna get 28 kills a match, but we have all of our girls getting like five, six kills and that’s just as important as one girl getting all of them.”
Moniteau will also enter the semifinal match against Punxsutawney with a bit of confidence.
The Warriors took the Chucks to five sets when they squared off on Oct. 11 with Punxsy squeaking by with a 30-28, 24-26, 25-14, 20-25, 15-9 win.
“We’re very excited to see them again,” said Jewart, who didn’t play in that match. “We’re hoping this time it’s a better outcome. We feel like we have a shot.”
No one wants this magical season to end.
“We are all absolutely thrilled,” Jewart said. “We kind of struggled in past seasons, so to have a turnaround year like this is not something we ever imagined would happen. I mean, we obviously hoped for it. We worked for it, but we definitely didn’t expect it, but we’re happy it’s happening.”
Flying under the radar has also benefitted Moniteau.
“I feel like we’re coming in as underdogs,” Loos said, “and I like the underdog story.”
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