After the momentum of Blue Mountain’s two-sets-to-none lead had drifted away, Eagles senior Brittney Moyer said her team’s strategy became very simple.
“It’s like, ‘Let’s do whatever we can and win. Let’s do what we have to do. Put the ball up, get a good pass and we’re good. We’re fine,’ ” Moyer said after the Eagles defeated host Pottsville, 25-14, 25-22, 21-25, 25-14, in both teams’ opening Schuylkill League Division I match of the season Tuesday.
While Moyer said the plan was as simple as efficient execution, Blue Mountain head coach Nick Marrongelle had a slightly different idea after his team lost its chance at a sweep by losing a 15-10 lead in the third set.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Marrongelle said about Moyer’s emergence in Set 4, in which she posted nine of her match-best 22 kills. “I didn’t actually say it because I always like our setter to distribute, but at that point, she was hitting over their double-block. She was hitting
angles. Whatever spot she wanted on the floor, she got.
“And to have one of the top hitters in the Schuylkill League is a great feeling.”
That feeling extended to the fact that Blue Mountain, playing its first dual match of the season, had not defeated Pottsville (0-2) on its home court in years.
“it’s the best possible way to start off the season. I never would have imagined,” Moyer said. “The feeling of finally doing it is amazing.”
The difficulty of the task seemed apparent early as Pottsville, playing its first home match in the return of Maria Sherakas to the helm of the Crimson Tide, took a 7-6 lead in the first set.
However, the Eagles’ Alex Ferrier then stepped to the service line. Fourteen service points later, the Eagles were rolling, 19-7, and had exposed the Tide’s problem, which Sherakas said was the eventual key to the match.
“We didn’t get one (serve by the Eagles) and out,” she said. “They ran the score on serving and that hurt. That’s the key factor, I think.”
Marrongelle said, “I thought the difference was serving. I thought our servers were a little bit stronger than theirs tonight. I thought our serve-receive was a little better, and I thought our setter played tremendous. Ashley Snesavage deserves a lot of credit for coming in here, first chance against Pottsville as a freshman, and she was outstanding.”
Snesavage finished with 34 assists and nine digs while teammate Jordan Skoff added eight kills and 17 digs.
After the Eagles took Set 1, they took a 14-3 lead in Set 2, but four-point service runs by both Kasie Shaw and Kyra Varano and several Blue Mountain errors brought the Tide back within two points, 23-21, before the Eagles eventually won when Shaw’s serve landed beyond the Eagles’ baseline for set point.
Blue Mountain then broke away from a 4-4 deadlock in Set 3 to take its 15-10 lead. It took nearly the rest of the game, but Pottsville eventually tied the score at both 20 and 21 before an errant spike and back-to-back blocks for points by Mariah Curry, who had seven blocks in the match, gave the Tide their first win in a set this season.
Pottsville then took a three-point edge, 4-1, in Set 4, but could not hold it. Tying the game 7-7 on a kill by Moyer, Blue Mountain got the lead to stay on a block to the court by Ferrier.
Sophomore Madison Sherakas and Shaw, who had four digs, each had six kills for Pottsville in the match, while setter Leah Guzick posted 18 assists.
The rivalry will be renewed in three weeks at Blue Mountain, but there is an entire Division I schedule, which includes newcomer Lehighton, to face as well.
“It’s going to be all mental, definitely,” she said of the Eagles’ work ahead. “I’m going to do my best as the captain to keep everybody motivated.”
NOTES: Pottsville won the JV match 2-1.