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WILKES-BARRE — Their heads never hung. That very fact shows exactly how far the Berwick Area volleyball team has come in just one year’s time.
And now, the chance is pretty good that a state berth may not be far behind.
After dropping the first set, 35-33, to Nanticoke Area, Berwick rallied to win the next three to advance into next week’s District 2 Class 2A boys’ volleyball semifinals with a 3-1 victory over the Trojans Wednesday afternoon.
Up next for Berwick is state-ranked Holy Redeemer, which swept by Crestwood, 3-0, in the second half of the doubleheader. Abington Heights and North Pocono won the other two quarterfinals held at Blue Ridge Wednesday.
Berwick’s scores were 33-35, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-11. Redeemer’s scores were 25-6, 25-10 and 25-14.
“For us, it’s so cool to see all our hard work pay off,” said Berwick attacker Gabe Oliver, who finished with 16 kills. “Four years ago, we were down at the bottom. Now, we have a chance to win a district title and go to states. Really, it’s unbelievable. We knew Nanticoke was going to be tough, and it would be close. We never got down because we knew it was only one set.”
Just one year ago, Berwick may not have recovered from a momentum-crushing blow like that two-point loss in the first set.
But with a roster loaded with seniors, there was no questioning the Bulldogs. Setter Ethan Potter slapped hands with each of his teammates. Some still had a smile and confidence. Other just kind of shrugged it off
Berwick raced out to a 13-5 lead in the second set on Max McCabe’s serve and never looked back. At that very moment, Sarah Warner knew her team still had the right mindset.
“A lot of sets you lose when you go so many points, it’s tough to come back from. But we had that mentality that the next set was going to be ours,” Warner said. “We just came out, and kept playing. One set is not the end of a match.”
Nanticoke, using 10 kills in the opening set from Luke Butczynski to take that 1-0 lead, tried to rally back into the match.
Down by as much as six in the third (15-9), Nanticoke used back-to-back spikes from Butczynski and a block from Matt Piontkowski to trim the deficit back to 20-19. But that’s as far as the Trojans got as a combined four kills from Oliver and Dylan Michael ended the set, 25-21.
Debbie Gavin’s group, playing most of the fourth without normal setter Alec Divers, never found their footing, down 8-1 and by 14 (19-5) at one point.
“We just lost that momentum,” Gavin said. “The second and third game, they got to everything. They were moving their feet, and passing everything forward. Berwick is smart on the court. Sarah has some athletic, court-smart kids. They have a lot of pride. It’s great for their program.”
Berwick, which finished third in the conference behind Redeemer and DelVal, was paced by a combined 28 kills from Oliver and Michael. Butczynski had 16 spikes for Nanticoke, while Justin Casey and Josh Baranowski each had 11.
Holy Redeemer 3, Crestwood 0
When Holy Redeemer’s offense is firing like it was Wednesday, no one in the district can stop the Royals.
Redeemer committed just two attack errors in three sets, and setter Jimmy Stepanski ran a near-perfect offense in the sweep of Crestwood.
“It was a great test for the next round,” said Stepanski, who finished with 23 assists. “Watching these guys hit like they were tonight is honestly one of the best things you can see as a setter. I can go to any hitter, and I know they are going to get the point.”
Jack Kablick’s squad rolled through the first two sets in about 35 minutes. A long run on Ben Rachilla’s serve put Redeemer up 14-2 to start the first, and the Royals used a long, 9-0 spurt to break open the second, 23-8.
“We only had three errors the first set, four in the second and five in the third. That’s unheard of. Our goal is to keep it 10 or under,” Kablick said. “We served well, and hit well. Our passing was on as usual, and Jimmy set up our hitters. We were in system all night.”
Crestwood showed some life in the third.
Four kills by senior attacker Noah Jackson gave the Comets a 6-4 edge early, but the Royals responded with a 9-2 run and scored eight of the final 11 points.
“In Game 1, I just thought that we were a little deflated and down,” Comet head coach Mike Williams said. “I think it was the atmosphere of being in here and knowing the tradition that Redeemer has. You see the name on the jersey, and it takes you out of the game. It put us two steps behind the ball, instead of one. We tried to key on Redeemer’s weaknesses, but when you don’t get the passing, you can’t run the offense. Their serving took us out of our flow.”
Rachilla led Redeemer with 19 kills, while Luke Nealon and Matt Blaum combined for 20 kills.
Berwick 3, Nanticoke Area 1
N `35`17`21`11 – 1
B `33`25`25`25 – 3
Nanticoke Area Leaders: Luke Butczynski 16 kills; Justin Casey 11 kills; Josh Baranowski 11 kills; Alec Divers 33 assists.
Berwick Leaders: Gabe Oliver 16 kills; Dylan Michael 12 kills; Ethan Potter 33 assists, 6 kills; Max McCabe 9 kills, 5 blocks.
Holy Redeemer 3, Crestwood 0
C `6`10`14 – 0
HR `25`25`25 – 3
Crestwood Leaders: Noah Jackson 6 kills; Michael Williams 10 assists; Brady Fetterman 4 kills.
Holy Redeemer Leaders: Ben Rachilla 19 kills, 5 blocks, 12 points; Luke Nealon 12 kills, 5 blocks; Zach Walker 6 blocks, 4 kills; Jimmy Stepanski 23 assists, 14 points; Matt Blaum 8 kills, 4 points.
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