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WILKES-BARRE — In the most tense moments, there was an aura of calmness on the Holy Redeemer sideline.
Sure, players got loud to pump each other up. Head coach Jack Kablick stood with his arms folded, never thinking about calling a time-out when Delaware Valley was mounting game-changing runs.
And in the end, it equaled a share of the Wyoming Valley Conference boys’ volleyball title for the school.
Junior Ben Rachilla had 22 kills, and Redeemer had to fight off a Warrior charge in all three sets as the Royals swept DV, 3-0, Wednesday night in a battle of undefeated conference foes. Scores were 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20.
With a win over Dallas (2-9) Thursday, Redeemer (11-0) will grab hold of the outright league title.
“It feels great. The energy is just fantastic,” senior libero Mike Mohutsky said. “At times, you see us yelling at each other. But everyone knows that we mean nothing by it. It’s just the heat of the match. When someone makes a mistake, I know they are better than that, and they are going to shake it off. I trust all of my teammates.”
Really, it’s what makes a good team into a great one. Absorbing those big runs, brushing them off quickly and regrouping.
Rarely do you see Redeemer pushed for three sets in WVC play, but DelVal was definitely up for the challenge.
The Warriors rallied back from a 17-11 deficit in the first set to knot the score at 22-22.
DelVal (11-1) almost pulled an amazing comeback in the second, down 24-18, but taking the next five points to bring it back to one.
And that’s not counting the five-point lead in the third set.
“I want to see the guys play through it,” Kablick said. “We know how to get out of things. Our serve-receive has been a little better in the past, but I thought DV served pretty tough. I hope it shows confidence to our guys. I think we called one time-out all night when they had that run in the third set. And we came out and scored the next five. That was the match right there. If they get a seven- or eight-point lead, that’s the set. You won’t catch them down that much.”
But that’s why you never count out Redeemer. Like the old adage goes, “Been there and done that.”
Behind the serves of Mohutsky and spikes from Luke Nealon, Redeemer scored the final three points of the first set to eek out a 25-22 win.
Rachilla made sure DelVal didn’t complete the six-point comeback in the second as he took a right-side set from Jimmy Stepanski and ripped it cross-court for the 25-23 win.
And in the third, Redeemer used a 10-2 run to erase that 15-10 deficit.
No doubt, three big moments where the Royals show the true will of a champ.
“You knew it was going to be tight because they were undefeated with a great hitter,” said senior attacker Matt Blaum, who finished with five kills and two aces. “You knew it was going to come down to the little things like passing mistakes and service errors. We really wanted this match. We knew what this meant. These are the matches you want going into playoffs. You want to see those tough serves and power hitters.”
In a battle of two of the top WVC attackers, Rachilla edged out DV senior Tyler Smith in kills by two, 22-20. Smith leads the conference in spikes, racking up more than 200 in 2017, while Rachilla is up to 186 on the year.
“We’ve played 32 teams outside of our district this year,” Kablick said. “That’s counting all the tournaments we’ve been to. We’ve seen the top teams in the state, and I would say that Delaware Valley is in the top 10 or top 15 of all of them. And that’s saying something because we’ve seen teams like Central Dauphin, Emmaus and Northeastern. That tough competition paid off in a match like this.”
Crestwood 3,
Hanover Area 0
Hunter Rinehimer’s 14 service points and seven digs were too much for Hanover Area to handle. Crestwood swept the Hawkeyes 25-16, 25-14, 25-23.
Kenny Brush added nine service points and six kills in the win.
Hanover Area was paced by Kyle Baranosky’s two service points, one ace, six kills and three digs. Will Kauffman added three kills and three digs.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Holy Redeemer 3, Delaware Valley 0
DV `22`23`20 – 0
HR `25`25`25 – 3
DV Leaders: Tyler Smith 20 kills, 3 blocks; Liam Naturale 23 assists; Mark Piotrowski 2 kills, 2 aces.
HR Leaders: Ben Rachilla 22 kills, 4 blocks, 5 points; Luke Nealon 12 kills, 5 blocks; Mike Mohutsky 10 digs, 14 points; Jimmy Stepanski 31 assists, 8 points; Matt Blaum 5 kills, 5 points, 2 digs.
