When Thursday’s Schuylkill League girls’ volleyball championship match came down to a final set to 15 points, there was little doubt.
Most in Martz Hall knew Abby Stankiewitch was getting the ball, and that she could not be stopped.
The 6-foot, senior middle hitter posted 25 kills, including four of the Fillies’ first eight points in the fifth set, as Marian outlasted Blue Mountain 25-23, 21-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-5 for its third straight Schuylkill League championship.
“When I start a game, I see who my hot hitters are and who is clicking with me,” Marian senior setter Courtney McCall said. “Abby was really clicking with me that game.
“Honestly, going into a game like that, we knew we had to come out strong and play strong defensively.”
Stankiewitch’s kills backed an eight-point service run by Abby Pilla to begin the final set.
But that moment of dominance was no indication how intense Thursday’s match was.
“It was just what they needed,” Marian head coach John Fallabel said of his Fillies (16-2). “Starting a Game 5? This is what you live for, to get into a Game 5 for the league championship.”
A two-time Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class A first-team all-star, Stankiewitch said she was ready for McCall’s feeds with the match on the line.
“I like to keep our intensity, so when they set me, that’s when our intensity goes up, so we kept working. We kind of needed that intensity tonight, so she kept setting me,” Stankiewitch said. “I think it was our heart, honestly. It was like our dedication and our want to win this game.”
Blue Mountain head coach Nick Marrongelle was just as intense about his team’s performance in its first loss since Marian beat the Eagles on Sept. 24.
“Hats off to Marian. Great program. Great coaching,” he said. “But we’re just every (bit as) good as they are. I honestly believe that.”
Blue Mountain (18-2) attempted to make that statement from the outset. The Eagles held a 10-3 lead in the first set before Marian slowly worked back into the match.
Marian took the lead for good at 23-22 on a Blue Mountain setting error and grabbed a 24-22 lead on Danielle Spillman’s ace. After an errant serve gave the Eagles a point, Marian won on Stankiewitch’s fifth kill of the set.
The Eagles then fell to a 16-12 deficit in the second set, but rallied. With the match tied at 21, two Marian kill attempts sailed wide and a net violation allowed the Eagles to win.
The third set largely belonged to Marian sophomore Jasmine Mooney. She served five straight points, including two aces, to help the Fillies to an 11-5 lead.
Then, with Marian holding a 21-15 lead, she served three more points, including another ace, to provide some insurance in Marian’s 25-16 win.
Again, the Eagles surged back. Breaking away from a 1-1 tie behind three kills from Nicole McQuillan, Blue Mountain, helped by seven service errors by Marian, led the rest of the fourth set and clinched it on a kill by Lex Juritsch.
Pilla’s service run to begin the final set took Blue Mountain out of the match.
“Abby Pilla, unsung hero all season long,” Fallabel said. “I don’t know how many kills she had, but every one of her kills was a big kill.”
Pilla finished with three kills to support an attack led by Stankiewitch and Mooney, who had 11 kills, 22 digs, five aces and two blocks. Maureen Kloap added 11 kills and 10 digs, while McCall finished with 47 assists and 12 digs.
Jordan Skoff paced the Eagles with 10 kills and 15 digs. Ashley Snesavage added 23 assists, five kills and 10 digs, while McQuillan had seven kills and four blocks. Maya Throne had 27 digs and two aces.
Bidding for its first-ever Schuylkill League championship, Blue Mountain lost in its first finals appearance since 2009.
“They earned the right to be here, to play a team like that,” Marrongelle said of his Eagles. “If Blue Mountain volleyball wasn’t on the league map before, it is now.”
Both teams will look ahead to the District 11 Tournament, in which Marian is riding a 15-match win streak entering its Class A title defense.
“What we do is we look at ourselves as the underdogs, and from that, we just work hard not to be the underdogs anymore,” McCall said. “This game definitely raised our team morale — extremely.”