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WILKES-BARRE — Jude Height glanced over to head coach Jack Kablick and shook his head.

The Holy Redeemer back-row specialist jumped in the air and fired a serve to a pinpoint spot on the court. The ball hit its mark as Crestwood struggled to get it toward the front row to run its offense.

That was pretty much the story of the match.

Redeemer used big runs in each set, but none was larger than the 21-1 spurt in the second set as the state-ranked Royals cruised to a 3-0 sweep of the Comets Monday evening in a battle of undefeated Wyoming Valley Conference squads.

Set scores were 25-9, 25-8 and 25-16.

“We have been putting in the time and effort with our serves, and you can see that we are getting positive results,” said Height who finished with 16 points. “For myself, it felt nice. I’ve been working hard on it, and it really started to come together at Saturday’s tournament. Serving is one of those traits that you have to keep working on.”

And it’s not just one specific athlete. It’s each player who steps behind the back line.

Dive into Monday’s individual sets, and it’s clearly evident.

A 5-0 run on Jimmy Stepanski’s serve in the first set.

An 11-0 run with Height firing darts toward the back row, followed up with another 9-0 spurt with power hitter Ben Rachilla taking his turn during the second stanza.

And in the third set, it was libero Mike Mohutsky taking charge. Switching between a floater drifting toward the back row, and a short flop that barely grazed over the tape at the top of the net, Mohutsky led Redeemer on another 10-1 run.

“Our serving is so crucial, and hitting the targets on the court is important,” Mohutsky said. “When you hit targets, it really takes the other team out of their offense. Honestly, I’m not surprised that we are serving so well because we did return a lot of our servers from last year. We just kind of picked up where we left off.”

Crestwood (2-1) just never got into any offensive rhythm.

Credit Redeemer’s serves for part of that. The other half was maybe too many timid swings against the state-ranked squad.

The Comets gave Redeemer (3-0) seven of its first nine points on three attack errors, three service miscues and a carrying violation.

It didn’t get much better for Mike Williams’ squad as his boys committed a combined 33 hitting miscues in the three sets.

“We came out real flat, and intimidated,” said Williams, Crestwood’s head coach. “That put us behind the ball big time. Too many missed serve, and too many unforced errors. You can’t beat a good team when you do that. Right now, all the focus shifts to Nanticoke on Wednesday. You can’t worry about the past game or what’s down the line. It’s just one game at a time.”

After falling 25-9 in the opening set, the Comets appeared to have righted the ship in the second as two blocks and a kill by senior Noah Jackson gave his team an early, 4-2 lead.

It was a short-lived advantage, however, as Redeemer responded with the massive, 21-1 run.

“We work hard on the serve every day,” Kablick said. “Our philosophy is to take the other team out of their system or make it hard for them to get to where they want to go. We did a good job tonight, and I thought we served well against Nanticoke last week. I’m happy with how we are progressing.”

Again, the Comets hung around in the third set, down by just two (12-10) before the Royals strung together a set-clinching 10-1 spurt for a 22-11 edge.

Rachilla, a junior, finished with a match-high 19 kills, while teammates Stepanski added 23 assists and Luke Nealon had nine kills and three blocks and Matt Blaum chipped in with six kills and two blocks.

Crestwood’s Michael Williams had two kills, nine assists and one ace to pace the Comets, while Jackson added four blocks and Noah Modrovsky recorded three kills and one ace.

Hazleton Area 3, Hanover Area 0

Matthew Boretski had 16 assists, one block, seven service points, and one ace as the Cougars swept Hanover Area 25-20, 25-16, 25-11.

Teammates Everett Fritz and Raul Geronimo each finished with four kills, while Francis Fermin had 17 digs and Wiliam Barrientos added 15 digs, seven service points, and four aces.

Hanover Area’s Devin Senk had one kill, seven digs, and seven assists and Brennan Johnson had 10 service points and 11 digs.

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Holy Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla and Matt Blaum block a Crestwood point.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_hr_cr1_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgHoly Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla and Matt Blaum block a Crestwood point. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Holy Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla spikes over the net as Crestwood’s Brady Fetterman during Monday night’s boys volleyball game at Holy Redeemer.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_hr_cr2_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgHoly Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla spikes over the net as Crestwood’s Brady Fetterman during Monday night’s boys volleyball game at Holy Redeemer. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Crestwood’s Noah Jackson attempts a shot as Holy Redeemer’s George Beck and Matt Blaum block.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_hr_cr3_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgCrestwood’s Noah Jackson attempts a shot as Holy Redeemer’s George Beck and Matt Blaum block. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Holy Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla finished with a match-high 19 kills.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_hr_cr4_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgHoly Redeemer’s Ben Rachilla finished with a match-high 19 kills. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

By Tom Fox

For Times Leader

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.