KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Trailing 2-0 against rival Redbank Valley after two sets, Keystone sophomore Ava Patrick made a bold prediction.
(Above, Leah Exley was named the Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game.)
“I can feel it in my gut,” Patrick told senior Leah Exley. “We’re going to win these next three and we’re going to take it all.”
Exley believed her.
“I was like, ‘You know what?’” Exley said. “‘I think you’re right.’”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
There was nothing before that third set that indicated such a prolific comeback was coming for the Keystone volleyball team.
The Panthers were out of sync, out of sorts and scuffling after losing 25-16 and 25-19 to fall into that 0-2 hole.
But Keystone regrouped, scoring the last five points to win the third set, 25-20, then rallied again from 19-16 down in the fourth set to take that one, 25-22.
The decisive fifth belonged to the Panthers in a 15-8 win that gave them a dramatic 3-2, come-from-behind home victory on Tuesday night over Redbank Valley.
“We are all like, ‘We just can’t let this happen,’” Exley said. “‘We can’t lose like this.’ We did not play well at all at first, but I’m really glad we managed to pick it up.”
For awhile, it looked as if Keystone (2-0) was going to get swept out of its own gym.
Redbank dominated play early — at the net and on the serve.
Four different Bulldog players recorded at least one kill in that first set win and that balance carried over into the second to put them on the verge of a sweep.
Redbank was also piling up the aces. Taylor Ripple had three in a row at one point in the second set to help the Bulldogs to an 18-11 lead.
Ripple finished the match with nine kills and five aces.
Redbank Valley (1-1) led 19-18 in the third set, but Keystone went on 7-2 run to keep the match alive.
Runs were something that was hurting the Panthers early.
“I told them we needed to control the runs,” said Keystone coach Bryan Mong. “It’s those long runs like in that first and second game of six, seven points in a row that hurt us. Granted, we were making some mistakes, but those runs hurt you very bad.”
Exley and Karley Callander started hurting Redbank Valley on the serve.
Exley finished with 16 service points and four aces and Callander, who developed a jump serve before her senior season, added nine service points and four aces.
“We had a camp and they were teaching the jump serve and it just really clicked with me,” Callander said. “I decided I might as well try it since this is my last year. I wanted to go out with a bang.”
Callander was strong at the net, too, with eight kills. Exley also had eight kills and Natalie Bowser had two aces, three digs, 11 assists, five kills and two blocks for Keystone.
“Karley has a really strong arm and she learned how to jump float serve this year — it’s almost more of a jump topspin,” Mong said. “It’s really hard when it’s on. She’s always had a strong arm coming up, so now that she’s put the two together, she’s pretty tough to defend.
Kennedy Kaye had 31 digs and Reagan Mays 13 assists for the Panthers.
Exley was the Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game, but any one of several Keystone players could have earned that honor.
“It’s a team game,” Mong said. “This is only going to help them build character. Everybody on the bench was celebrating.”
For Redbank Valley, the loss was difficult to stomach.
“Honestly, I just told them we’re going to move forward,” said Bulldogs’ coach Ashley Anderson. “They have nothing to be ashamed of — they lost a tough match. They stuck with it. I was telling them to be intentional and they were intentional for the whole game.”
Alivia Huffman and Izzy Bond each had 11 kills for Redbank Valley. Huffman also had 20 digs, Caylen Rearick 20 digs and Mylee Harmon 28 assists.
This was a rematch of the last two District 9 Class 2A championship matches.
Redbank Valley won two years ago and Keystone claimed the crown last season, its first since 1992.
“We beat them last year for D9, and we wanted to show that was not a fluke,” Exley said. “We wanted to push through because they are our biggest rivals because when we play them, we tend to play five sets.
“This will give us a lot of adrenaline and energy and confidence because we came back from a 2-0 deficit,” Exley added. “That is a really hard thing to do, especially when this game is pretty much based on momentum. We’re already down two sets and you’re so far in the hole, you would think there’s no way you can get out of it, but we did. That’s awesome. Beating Redbank in itself is awesome, but this is really awesome.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
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