MINERSVILLE — Marian head coach John Fallabel says it is the only time when a volleyball team is completely in control.
Put a volleyball into a girl’s hand and nothing can happen until she hits it over the net to begin play.
What happens next could well decide the Schuylkill League championship, scheduled for 7 p.m. today at Martz Hall.
For Blue Mountain (18-1), it’s a rare chance at a crown dominated in years past by Pottsville, Nativity, Tri-Valley and Marian.
For Marian (15-2), a third straight championship Thursday night brings the word “dynasty” into sharper focus.
First, there is the matter of the serve and how it is handled.
“It’s going to be an intense game,” Blue Mountain head coach Nick Marrongelle said. “It’s going to come down to serve receive. That’s going to be the big difference.”
He will get no argument from Fallabel, whose Fillies defeated Blue Mountain in four sets in a Schuylkill League Division I-II crossover Sept. 24 in Hometown.
“The keys are going to be our serve receive,” he said. “Our passing. If we can pass the ball, we can beat anybody.”
Years ago, volleyball teams were only allowed to score points on their own serve. Though the sets only went to 15 points, some matches seemed never-ending as teams lost often when they were serving.
But since the PIAA adopted rally scoring, in which each play counts as a point, the serve has become a weapon offering immediate reward — whether the shot hits the court or cannot be handled cleanly by the defense.
“A lot of the high school game is can you put the ball in play over the net on the serve? Can you receive when you’re on defense and side out?” Marrongelle said. “They’re such key factors that I can’t overstate enough how important they are.”
Blue Mountain used the serve to great effect Tuesday in the semifinals against Division III champion Tri-Valley. The Eagles amassed 15 aces in the first two sets of their 25-12, 25-16, 25-18 sweep of the Bulldogs.
The effect for Marian was less evident as the Fillies collected just seven aces in four sets in a 24-26, 25-11, 25-21, 25-23 thriller over Nativity.
Four aces came from the hard overspin serve of sophomore Jasmine Mooney, whose deliveries sometimes forced difficult returns by the Green Wave defenders.
Yet Nativity head coach Jennifer Daubert said there will be more to follow than just serves in tonight’s final.
“A key is definitely going to be able to get out on the block,” she said.
Both teams feature two tall middle blockers in Blue Mountain’s Nicole McQuillan and Marian’s Abigail Stankiewitch. Each also features strong outside hitters — Mooney and Maureen Kloap for Marian, along with Jordan Skoff and Lexi Juritsch for Blue Mountain.
Daubert is also impressed by Blue Mountain’s unity.
“A complete team,” she said. “They work very well together. They communicate very well. Their setter (Ashley Snesavage) makes really good decisions for them.”
Because of that, Fallabel said Marian’s three-peat is no sure thing.
“I think it will be a really tough game. I think Nativity, us and them (Blue Mountain) are all about equal,” he said.
Fallabel expects a different kind of match than Marian’s victory over the Eagles earlier this season because of the venue.
Marian’s gym features low ceiling beams that sometimes cause odd deflections. That is not the case in wide-open Martz Hall.
“We had them in our gym. It’s a different game when you’re on a neutral court,” he said.