Marian volleyball rallies past Nativity for district crown

POTTSVILLE – The unwritten rule in the Holy Wars says thou shalt not take any survivors.

To be sure at one point in Tuesday’s District 11 Class 1A volleyball championship between Marian and Nativity, it didn’t seem like either team would survive.

It was a grueling, gut-wrenching, nerve-racking, knee-buckling contest between two teams that have respect for each other — but a disdain as well.

When the Green Wave came out of the chute with the look of a favorite instead of an underdog, they seemed to have finally found a formula for success over the Fillies.

An epiphany of sorts.

Nativity was on a crusade to stun the No. 1 ranked Class A team in Pennsylvania. On the other hand, Marian didn’t have its “A” game early.

But like Moses parting the Red Sea, the Fillies suddenly found their footing and found the guile to overcome adversity.

In one of the most intense matches of the season, Marian rallied from a 2-1 deficit in sets to pull out a dramatic 3-2 victory.

“It’s them,” said Marian mastermind Dr. John Fallabel praising his team. “They just beat a great team —which had a great game plan. The players are the ones who execute.

“Nativity was playing great. It was a fantastic game, I was worried coming in. They made some adjustments. They had (Jasmine Mooney) mapped out, they had us mapped out. We know each other so well.”

What it all came down to was leadership from Giana Agosti and Mooney. They willed their team to victory. Mooney had a superb outing, setting a school record with 103 attacks and 36 kills in a five-set match. Agosti was nothing short of stellar, with 50 assists and 30 digs.

“I had a lot of confidence in my teammates,” said Agosti, one of the smaller players on the floor who came up huge in the fifth and final set when she took the serve with her team leading 2-1 and proceeded to just about put a nail in the coffin of Nativity.

Agosti posted three aces, and Mooney added a pair of kills, to lift the team to a commanding 11-1 lead. For a short while, Nativity did rebound, closing the deficit to within 13-10, before Carly Kosciolek eventually killed off the final point to seal the Fillies’ victory.

“My nerves were getting to me,” said an excited Kosciolek. “Yet you have to play through it. Everyone did something to make it work. I’m just so happy that we were able to stay in there.”

The battle started heavily in favor of Nativity. The Green Wave broke free from a 10-10 tie in the first set to take a 19-13 lead and maintained serve before finally stamping out a 25-23 decision.

In set two, Nativity was up 20-17 before Mooney, the Fillies version of Wonder Woman, picked up the pace. Her play at the net combined with the serving of Antonina Zeleniak forged a 23-20 Marian lead. The Wave rallied to tie it at 24-24 before Mooney let loose with her wicked whirlybird swing for a pair of kills to even the match at 1-1.

“It was so intense at times I wanted to throw up,” said Mooney. “You know I never doubt myself, or my teammates, but at times things got so difficult and it wasn’t going our way. I just wanted to win and so did the other girls.”

Marian may have gotten a shot of reality when it got spanked in the third set 25-12. It humbled a team that was riding the crest of a Schuylkill League championship and had two previous wins over Nativity this season.

“We weren’t going to lose,” said Agosti emphatically. “We were all determined.”

After the 13-point drubbing, Marian reloaded and carved out a 25-20 win to force a fifth and deciding set.

“It was just a matter of adjustments attacking with the serve,” said Fallabel. “They have one deep player and two on the side, and when you serve, the deep player drops back and that is to our advantage.”

As for the biggest advantage?

The will to win another Holy War over Nativity.