Holy Redeemer boys volleyball advances to District 2 Class 2A championship match

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NEW MILFORD — Holy Redeemer quickly recovered from its one inevitable lull Tuesday night, regaining command before the midway point in the third set on the way to a sweep of Mountain View in a District 2 Class 2A boys volleyball semifinal victory that clinched a berth in the PIAA state tournament.

The Royals ran off 13 straight points on the way to finishing out the 25-13, 25-13, 25-17 victory in the opener of a doubleheader at Blue Ridge.

“When you win the first two – and that’s five sets in a row where we beat them 13 or 14 – there’s going to be a little letdown,” Holy Redeemer coach John Kablick said. “You get a little overconfident.”

Mountain View led by two points three times early in the third set before the Eagles committed a service error, then Holy Redeemer ran off 12 more points on Jayden Fleegle’s serve for an 18-7 lead.

“They came around quick,” Kablick said. “It’s a good team and they know it – you lose and you turn your stuff in.”

That won’t be the case.

Instead, Holy Redeemer will face defending champion and top seed Blue Ridge Thursday in the second match of a doubleheader at Scranton High School for both a district championship and the right to host a state opener.

The Royals pulled out a five-set win over the Raiders May 6, handing Blue Ridge its first defeat after 15 straight match victories and 45 straight set wins to begin the season.

“It helps,” Kablick said of knowing they can beat the Raiders, “but it gives them a little incentive also.”

Perhaps more important is that the victory is another sign of the in-season improvement the Royals (16-2) have made. Their only loss in the last 15 matches came in five sets against Wyoming Valley Conference champion Delaware Valley.

“We’re just a very athletic team this year; the whole team,” Kablick said. “All these players play two or three sports and they’re good at those sports.

“ … About five weeks ago, the chemistry really came together. We’re communicating; we’re covering the whole court. We kind of learned how important that is and it took us to another level.”

The Royals showed it again Tuesday with the Rocha brothers, Johnnathan and Josh, and George Sabatini controlling play at the net.

Josh, a junior, had a team-high 13 kills along with three blocks, three digs and six service points.

Sabatini had 10 kills while Johnnathan Rocha, a senior, had eight kills and eight blocks.

Fleegle led in service points with 17 while Mark Atherton had nine and Jack Wasiakowski eight.

Wasiakowski ran the offense with 25 assists.

BLUE RIDGE 3, DALLAS 1

Connor Cranage was a consistent force at the net Tuesday night.

Cranage, the all-state basketball and volleyball player in his final regular-season home event, had 28 kills, seven in each set, to lead Blue Ridge past Dallas in a District 2 Class 2A boys volleyball semifinal.

Blue Ridge won 25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16.

Dallas became just the third team, all Wyoming Valley Conference members, to take a set off the Lackawanna League champions this season.

“We’ve been playing better teams like Holy Redeemer and Wilkes-Barre,” Cranage said, “but we also have some things that we have to fix.”

The defending champion Raiders have one day of practice before trying to avenge their only loss. They meet Holy Redeemer in Thursday’s title game at Scranton High.

Carter Brunn led the way for Dallas with 15 kills, 10 digs, six blocks, seven service points and an ace.

Cameron Faux added 14 kills, 13 digs and five points. Faux posted his 500th career kill.

Christopher Miller had 12 assists, eight digs, six points and four blocks.