BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Mia Anderson wrapped her arms around teammate Melaina Nicklas and squeezed her tightly.
Ada Chamberlain embraced Elizabeth Yasurek, tears of joy streaming down her ruddy cheeks.
The rest of the Wolves celebrated wildly a most satisfying title.
In a season full of peaks and valleys for the Kane volleyball team, Thursday night was the pinnacle.
(Pictured above, Kane’s Mia Anderson hugs Melaina Nicklas after the Wolves beat Moniteau in four sets for the D9 Class 2A crown)
And the emotion of it all showed.
Kane, the defending District 9 Class 2A champions, rallied from a first-set loss to take the next three over feisty Moniteau to win the crown again, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 26-24, at Brockway High School.
“This means a lot for them because everybody said, ‘Oh, you guys don’t have a chance,’” said Kane coach Judy Kessler. “These guys took that kind of as a challenge.”
Anderson was brilliant all night for the Wolves with 13 kills and 11 blocks.
One of the few holdovers from a team that won the championship last year, Anderson said this one is particularly special.
“We had some ups and downs this season — we lost some matches we thought we shouldn’t have — and it kind of made us doubt a little bit that we would come back here,” Anderson said. “But we came through. We played as a team and we kind of motivated everyone else on the court and that’s what led us back here and to this.”
Kane was the three-seed in the five-team Class 2A bracket. Moniteau was the fifth and final seed. This was a final few thought would feature the Wolves and Warriors.
But here they were in front of a packed Brockway gym, going back and forth for four sets.
Moniteau got the upper hand early as Abbey Jewart began the match with seven straight service points to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead, prompting Kessler to call a reluctant timeout.
She wanted her team to work through the early trouble on their own, but they needed a boost.
And they got it.
Kane rallied to tie that first set at 10-10, but Moniteau ultimately survived, going on to win 26-24.
It was the kind of start Moniteau coach Kaitlyn Loos craved. And she got it.
“I totally thought we were on tonight and even in the fourth set, I thought we could still do it,” Loos said. “Silly mistakes is all it came down to.”
Kane won the second and third sets, but Moniteau was in control in the fourth and looked poised to force a fifth, leading 22-17.
But the unflappable Wolves stormed back with five straight points to tie it at 22-22, and trailing 24-23, rattled off three more points in a row to win the set and the match on a kill by Maya Smith.
“We don’t panic,” Kessler said.
Moniteau didn’t blink, either, despite playing in its first D9 final since 2003 — the year the Warriors won their only crown.
Davina Pry had 10 kills and four digs; Jewart had 20 assists; Marissa Pry seven kills, three blocks and four digs; and Allie Pry 10 digs for the Warriors.
Kessler said Moniteau was a challenge to play against, especially with just one day to prepare, because of the different kind of style the Warriors employ — particularly defensively.
“Their defense is very different — they play a six-up defense,” Kessler said. “It takes a lot of your shots away. So yesterday we spent a lot of time working on different things. They’re so attuned to just poke it over the block, but you can’t do that because you’re got your six-up girl just sitting there waiting for them all. We had to do some other things.”
Like hit deep.
That was something Kane had struggled with at times this season.
“We’re not always good at that,” Anderson said. “We had to hit down the lines and we were able to do that.”
Another factor was Kane made very few errors.
Moniteau also chose to attack straight into the teeth of Kane’s blockers and Anderson had a big night.
“She’s a great player and we needed to set opposite more,” Loos said. “If we would have done that from game one on, I think we would have been talking about something different. We’re not used to hitting against a brick wall like that.”
For Moniteau, a special season comes to an end.
Just like the emotion shown on Kane’s side of the court following the win, there was a lot of emotion on Moniteau’s side as well.
Only that emotion was of sadness and disappointment that a magical season — and a lot of careers for the Warriors’ senior-laden roster — is suddenly over.
There were more tears than serves.
“We had a great season,” Loos said. “We were the underdogs and if people wanted to call us underdogs that’s what we were going to be. We were scrappy. It just didn’t end in our favor.”
