Fillies edge Panthers in Schuylkill volleyball semis

MINERSVILLE — Two undefeated teams. Storied rivalry. Schuylkill League semifinals. Would the battle between Panther Valley and Marian live up to the hype?

Yep.

After the Panthers took a 2-1 lead, Marian ripped off the final two sets in thrilling fashion to earn a spot in the Schuylkill League semifinals, downing Panther Valley, 21-25, 25-23, 11-25, 25-16, 15-12.

“In between sets three and sets four I said ‘it’s time to stop playing so emotional’,” said Marian assistant coach Chris Fallabel. “You can play with heart, but you don’t have to play emotional. I said they needed to slowdown and speed up and that same time.

“They know what I mean when I say that, it’s something we say. You need to slow down the pace of the game and speed up what they’re doing.”

And of course, it doesn’t hurt when your best player shows up in the biggest moment of the season. Marian’s Jasmine Mooney poured on seven kills during the deciding fifth set, ending with a whopping 29 kills and adding 32 digs on the night.

“They have a lot of young players, but I think we won with experience, persistence, and more volleyball IQ tonight,” Mooney said. “We’ve been watching them, they’ve been watching us, and we’ve both been looking forward to this game.”

The gymnasium was full of skilled Schuylkill League players, and many young Panthers made some serious noise during the night.

A big reason Panther Valley was three points shy of advancing to the league finals was its superb play at the net. Freshman Erika Dubosky, sophomore Jenna Dubosky, and junior Rachelle Filer combined for an astounding 27 blocks. If the trio wasn’t blocking Fillies’ shots, they were altering them.

“This is my best net-team ever,” said Panther Valley head coach Nancy Filer. “They love the net. My middles are very aggressive at the net, and my outsides like to swing but they’ll help out on the blocks.”

Volleyball is a funny game, which showed after the Fillies dropped the third set by a 25-11 tally, but came roaring out of the gate in set four with a 4-0 advantage from the get-go, which eventually helped clinch a 25-16 win and set up the 15-point tiebreaker.

“They started playing that Marian volleyball that I’ve seen our group of seniors do over the last four years,” Fallabel said. “They don’t panic when they’re down and took one point at a time. We were down by three at two different times, so they dug down and played with heart that they need to do.”

The win means the one-loss Panthers will have a few days off until District 11 play kicks off next Tuesday, and the Fillies will take on Blue Mountain in the Schuylkill League championship.

“It’s a great feeling especially since we get to play Blue Mountain in a championship again,” said Mooney. “Hopefully a little revenge from last year and hopefully we’ll do good, we played them in a tournament and we split, so it should be a good game like tonight was.”

BEND BUT DON’T BREAK … Fillies’ setter Gianna Agosti, who dished out 41 helpers, appeared to be playing through some pain later in the match. “The fourth set, the last ball that she dove for, she said ‘Jasmine, I think my wrist is broken.’” despite the pain, Agosti played the entire fifth set.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, I CAN DO BETTER … The Dubosky sisters each finished with 10 kills, while Christina Dacey added nine kills.

WE CAN’T HEAR YOU … The Minersville gym was absolutely rocking after the Panthers took a 2-1 lead. The Panther Valley student section was packed, as around 30 students signed up and came on the fan bus to help support the volleyball team. “That game could have went any way,” Filer said. “They’re a good team. It’s something we wanted, but it’s just a bump in the road I guess. On to districts.”

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED … Tuesday was the first time Fallabel saw the Panthers live. “I’ve heard good things and that they are extremely athletic, very active and wouldn’t let the ball go away easy. They proved they can play.”

HOLD ON! … Filer called a pair of timeouts during different points of the deciding fifth set. She wanted to send a message to her players. “Just play volleyball,” Filer said. “Stop looking at everything else and just play volleyball. I started two freshman, two sophomores, three juniors, and a senior. I’m okay!”