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COVINGTON TWP. — Greater Nanticoke Area appeared to be in complete control.
The Trojans rolled through the first two sets at North Pocono with ease. No one could expect what was going to happen next.
NP rallied for wins in the third and fourth sets, and almost pulled off a stunner. But a combined five kills from Kasey Radginski (15 kills) and Jilann Baron in the fifth set led GNA to a 15-12 victory and a 3-2 win in Wyoming Valley Conference girls’ volleyball Monday night.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-13, 13-25, 17-25 and 15-12. The win improves Nanticoke to 6-1 and keeps the Trojans one game back of Delaware Valley for first place in the league.
“I think nerves got the better of us in some spots,” said Baron, a sophomore attacker who finished with 11 kills. “I don’t think we got overconfident. I just think we fell apart when the match got tight and the pressure started to set in. We just had to block everything out. We just had to take our time and take good chances.”
Nanticoke Area appeared on its way to a short night.
Eight straight points on Alyssa Lewis’ (six kills, two aces) serve broke open the first set. Nanticoke then used a 10-3 run to close the second, 25-13.
Not even 30 minutes into the match, GNA found itself up 2-0 and on cruise control.
All of a sudden, something clicked for North Pocono. And things just went south for Nanticoke.
The back-to-front pass faded away. The offense couldn’t get into a rhythm. The group couldn’t stay away from momentum-swinging runs.
“We’ve been hot and cold all season,” Nanticoke head coach Debbie Gavin said. “We can play good one minute, and the next minute, we are struggling within ourselves. I think we just lack some leadership and some mental toughness. We need some of that.”
Heather Kramer scored eight straight points, and coupled with a 4-0 run on Maddie Hughes’ serve, NP found itself up 13-1 to start the third.
Led by back-to-back kills from Hannah Bray (11 kills, six aces), and three straight service points from Lilly Thompson, Pocono ran off to a 25-13 third-set win.
Nanticoke appeared to regain its footing. Again, another long run on Lewis’ serve tied the score at 12-12 in the fourth. But like in the third, Pocono found the knockout punch. Again, it was the serving combo of Kramer and Hughes with a clinching, 10-2 run to break open a 15-15 set.
“Our girls played hard,” NP head coach Jim Kramer said. “I said that it would be a rebuilding year for us at the beginning, and to be able to go five games with Nanticoke, shows how far we’ve come. We are starting to play better as a team. And I think you saw that in the third set. We started to do the little things right. We had to start making three good touches in a row, and we started to do that in the final three sets.”
It was a back-and-forth fifth set. No team held a lead larger than three. No squad went on a run longer than three points.
But it was the last run that counted with the match tied at 12-12.
Two North Pocono attack errors. A one-over by setter Jenna Lipowski (9 kills, three aces, 28 assists).
Just like that, a 3-0 run and a Nanticoke victory.
“We have to learn how to focus throughout the match, and gain that maturity under a pressure situation,” Gavin said. “We just have to learn to handle some pressure.”
Holy Redeemer 3, Berwick 0
Brynn Kukoski’s 13 kills, 10 service points and one assist as Holy Redeemer swept Berwick 25-9, 25-11, 25-12.
Amanda Curcio chipped in with eight kills and 17 assists, while Skylar Osenkarski had eight kills and one block and Julia Andrejko added 13 service points, one kill and seven digs.
Tunkhannock 3, GAR 2
After dropping the first two matches, Tunkhannock responded by forcing and winning the fifth match over GAR.
Match scores were 21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 26-24, 15-8.
Megan Straley led the charge with 25 digs, 15 service points and three aces, while Kayla Binner chipped in with 12 kills and eight blocks and Sadie Trochak had 13 assists and 10 service points. Rachel Fernandez recorded 14 service points in the win.
GAR’s Marisa DeGraffenreid had five assists, one dig and one kill and Khira Cook finished with three aces, one kill, five service points and three digs.
GOLF
MMI Prep 184, Hanover Area 201
Doug Genetti shot a 45 to grab medalist honors as MMI Prep beat Hanover Area.
George Palermo and Eric Degenhart each shot a 46 and Morgan Long finished with a 47 in the win.
Hanover Area’s Auggie George shot a 47.
GOLF
MMI Prep 184, Hanover Area 201
at Wyoming Valley CC, par 35
MMI (184) — Doug Genetti 45*, George Palermo 46, Eric Degenhart 46, Morgan Long 47.
HANOVER (201) — Auggie George 47, Devin Senk 50, Desmond McCance 51, Andrew Morgan 53
*medalist