DuBOIS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Mackenzie Blankenship was at a loss for words.
The Kane senior middle hitter clasped her hands on the top her head and stared around the gymnasium at DuBois High School in disbelief.
(Pictured above, Kane players celebrate winning the District 9 Class 2A championship)
In just one year, she and her Kane volleyball teammates went from an early District 9 Class 2A playoff casualty to champions.
“This is very satisfying, especially being a senior,” Blankenship said. “This is what we’ve been dreaming of for the past four years.”
It wasn’t easy.
Kane won had the momentum early, watched defending champion Keystone wrest it back to take a two-sets-to-one lead, but rallied to win the next two for a 25-16, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12 victory in a match that featured strong defense by both teams.
There were long rallies. Improbable saves to keep points alive. Diving digs. Scrambling bumps of the volleyball over the net.
It added up to an epic battle of haymakers between two evenly matched teams.
Eventually, the Wolves were just able to outlast the Panthers.
“You have to be scrappy in this sport,” Blankenship said. “You might think a point is done, but you have to keep going forward no matter what.”
That’s what Kane did.
The Wolves (16-2) built a reputation this year of contesting every point with a solid back row, led by senior libero Myka Costanzo, who had another outstanding night.
Cora Jekielek, a senior outside hitter, and Mia Anderson, a junior middle hitter, also shined at the net defensively.
But it was Blankenship’s presence that loomed large for Kane.
(Kane senior Mackenzie Blankenship was named the Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game)
Blankenship had 13 kills and four blocks. Her kill from the middle was the match-winner in the fifth set.
Kane had six players with at least one kill.
Junior Maya Smith had seven kills, Anderson had six kills and six blocks and Jekielek five kills for the balanced Wolves.
“We don’t rely on one girl — we move the ball around,” said Kane coach Judy Kessler. “We mix it up and that’s huge against a defense because they have to figure out where we’re going.”
That strategy worked, especially in the first season.
Kane came out hot; Keystone sputtered.
The Wolves scored the first five points surged further ahead by scores of 10-2 and 16-6 and cruised to the first-set victory.
But no one in the gym figured Keystone would simply surrender.
Especially not Kessler.
“All week we kept telling them, ‘This is probably gonna go five. Don’t feel like you’re gonna walk in there and get them in three,’” Kessler said.
Keystone (19-3) settled down in the second set, jumping out to and early 6-2 lead.
Kane managed to rally to tie the set at 8-8 before the Panthers moved ahead for good to even up the match at 1-1.
The key for Keystone was getting Exley involved. After recording just one kill, she had four in the second set and finished with 17 in the final outing of her stellar Panther career.
She also had 26 digs. Reagan Mays had 24 assists, Kennedy Kaye 31 digs, Karley Callendar nine kills and Natalie Bowser six kills, eight blocks and 21 assists for Keystone.
Exley again shined in the third set as Keystone again started strong in jumping up 7-2. Kane, though, rallied again and led 14-11 and then again at 19-18 late before the Panthers were able to seize control and move ahead 2-1.
Kane’s defense helped get the Wolves back to even in the fourth set.
Senior libero Myka Costanzo frustrated Keystone hitters with several stellar digs.
“We knew when we started watching film on them that they had a solid back line and we were going to have to get them on attacks and get them out of system,” said Keystone coach Bryan Mong. “They played great defense and they came out on top.”
Keystone led 8-5 in the fifth set, but Kane settled after a timeout to surge ahead 10-9.
The Panthers regained the lead at 11-10, but the Wolves scored five of the next six points to send the Kane crowd into a frenzy and the student section onto the court in celebration with the team.
Last year, Kane finished 9-8 and was knocked out of the playoffs by Karns City.
Kessler said she was confident that experience would drive her senior-laden team this time around.
She was right.
“We had basically seven starters back and five of them were seniors,” Kessler said. “There will be some big shoes to fill next year, but we’re not done yet.”
Kane will host the third-place team out of District 7 in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs on Tuesday.
For Keystone, it was another trip to the final — the Panthers’ third straight.
They lost two years ago to Redbank Valley, avenged that defeat by knocking off the Bulldogs last season in the championship match and returned in 2022 with just two losses in the regular season.
Like Kane, Keystone’s roster is loaded with seniors. All eight of them — Emma Plummer, Bowser, Sydney Bell, Exley, Callender, Cameron Peters and Kaye — were huge parts of the Panthers’ string of success.
“They put us on the map,” Mong said. “All we can hope is that our underclassmen see the work they put in and say, ‘This is what it takes to get here,’ and keep the tradition going. The seniors set the bar high.”
Keystone players were understandably upset after the match, hugging each other and shedding a few tears.
Mong, though, said there was nothing more they could have done.
“They have nothing to hang their heads about,” Mong said. “It was good championship volleyball, two pretty equal squads. You could have played that match 100 times and it could have gone 50 each. Unfortunately, we lost this one. This group of seniors have been to three district championships and that’s something that hasn’t been done yet at this school. They have a lot to be proud of.”
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