THE SISTERHOOD: Young Keystone Team Finding Its Stride, Sweeps North Clarion for Eighth Win in Last Nine Matches

KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — They call themselves “The Sisterhood.”

That closeness has come in handy.

It was a rocky start to the season for the Keystone volleyball team, but the Panthers and coach Bryan Mong had a feeling there would be some early growing pains.

What they didn’t necessarily count on was those pains fading away so quickly and a young team jelling so completely.

Thank that sisterhood for that.

(Pictured above, Keystone sophomore Addison Say)

“It’s their work ethic,” Mong said. “I mean, even when we were down earlier in the season, they still stayed positive and they still stayed up. I think at the end, they realize that family’s gonna help them the most in down times.”

There have not been many down times recently, and especially not on Tuesday night at home against North Clarion.

The Panthers stormed out to a 25-12 win in the first set, survived a late Wolves’ rally to eke out a victory in the second game, 25-23, and then dispatched North Clarion 25-16 in finish off the sweep.

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Addison Say, a sophomore, had a big night.

She did a little bit of everything — and all of it well — putting up 15 service points, four aces, three blocks and five kills.

Her development has been a microcosm for the young Panthers, who had to replace virtually their entire starting lineup from last season.

The youngsters have grown up and grown up quickly.

“I try to be good at everything and do my best at everything,” Say said. “I play club volleyball, so I work a lot on my game. I feel like our team is a lot better. We’re able to go out, be a team and work together. I’m very proud of our team.”

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Mong has seen Say become a bigger and bigger piece of the Keystone puzzle as the season has gone by.

Tall and lanky, Say and junior Ava Patrick — another tall and long player — have formed quite a formidable wall at the net on defense.

Patrick has blossomed into a dangerous hitter and so has Say recently.

“(Say) has really come on,” Mong said. “When I have her and Ava up there on the front line, it’s a pretty tall task to get over top of them.”

It was a balanced night at the net for Keystone, which got 10 kills from Patrick and six kills each from Audrey Burrows and Katherine Burrows.

It was one of the best offensive showings for the season for the Panthers, who were relentless the entire match and made very few mistakes.

Keystone had the looks of a seasoned team, not one with a lineup of new starters.

“One good thing is it wasn’t just (Say and Patrick),” Mong said. “They were switching their matchups to try to get around Ava, but just having Ava, she was really hot in that first game, and Addison had some really good hits. They don’t know where the attacks are coming from and that had their defense on their heels. That opened everything up for everyone else.”

Keystone was also solid on defense with junior libero Gwyn Manno getting 21 digs.

“She’s all over the place,” Mong said. “And every time she goes down like that, I just kind of cross my fingers that she’s gonna get up. But I’ve been very fortunate to have some tough liberos through the years, and she’s no exception.

Senior Bryanna Mong added 14 assists.

It was the eighth win in the last nine matches for Keystone (9-6), which started the season 1-5.

(North Clarion coach Bobbie Freeman talks with her team before the match against Keystone on Tuesday night)

North Clarion beat the Panthers in five sets back in September.

But that Wolves team had Brenna Thompson, who is a big threat on the attack. In the rematch on Tuesday, Thompson was in a walking boot and on the bench and has missed the last two weeks.

Despite playing without one of her stars, North Clarion coach Bobbie Freeman was happy with the fight she saw from her team.

“I’m proud of their effort. We threw some ninth graders in there. Most of them are in the 10th grade,” Freeman said. “We’re just trying to make adjustments with having one of our top hitters down. The girls are playing better as a team, we’re just working on tweaking a few things.”

Kyler Freeman had nine kills to lead North Clarion.

Lily Homan had 13 digs and Ainsley Hartle had 20 assists.

“We have to work through our emotions,” Coach Freeman said. “We gotta work through and persevere and dig down and learn grit, let it go and go get the next ball. You know, we made some mistakes tonight, but I’m proud of the hustle.”

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.