Thorpe outlasts Lehighton in volleyball

This far into the regular season, coaches can’t help but think about the postseason.

That made Tuesday night’s Lehighton-Jim Thorpe volleyball match all the more important.

The Olympians posted a 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-12 victory in a match that had playoff implications for both teams.

Jim Thorpe, which has already clinched a District 11 playoff spot, trails first-place Blue Mountain by two games in the Division I standings with just three league matches remaining. Meanwhile, Lehighton is chasing a District 11 berth, needing one more victory in its final four matches to secure a berth.

“Beating Lehighton definitely increases our chances for making the Schuylkill League playoffs,” said Jim Thorpe coach Victoria Nichols. “We have such a high level of competition in our league for the playoff spots.”

Lehighton held leads of 5-1, 11-4, and 16-8 in the opening set, before holding off the surging Olympians for a 25-22 win.

“We lost that first game because we made mistakes and didn’t communicate well enough,” Nichols said.

About midway through the first set, the Olympians picked up their levels of nearly everything, improving with each point.

The momentum swing in favor of Jim Thorpe carried through to the second set, as kills from several Olympians and some Tribe miscues got the hosts out to leads of 3-0 and 9-4, before senior Mackenzie Rosenberger rattled off three aces to increase the Jim Thorpe lead to 13-4.

Lehighton managed to battle back at several spots, but back-to-back kills by Kelsey Carroll and Autumn Snyder finished the second set to even things up.

“Jim Thorpe played great defense and Victoria does a great job with them,” Lehighton head coach TJ O’Connor said. “The biggest difference, I think, was their serving versus our receive, and just some untimely errors on our part. But I’m impressed ... they’re a strong team.”

In the third set, the momentum remained in favor of Thorpe, as a 5-0 lead morphed into a 12-6 swell several points later. With Jim Thorpe leading 23-19, the Indians made one final push as kills by Vanessa Ahner and Sara Bradley keyed a four-point run that produced a 23-23 tie.

Following a timeout, though, freshman Brandy Montemuro converted on a kill and classmate Abbey McGinley added an ace for the crucial third-set win.

“In game three, we came back and truthfully I thought we should have won,” O’Connor said. “That was the determining game in the match. When we lost that game, I think mentally, we were out of it in that next game.”

In fact, the Olympains raced out to a 14-4 advantage before cruising the remainder of the way for the win.

“It felt great tonight,” Rosenberger said. “Winning against Lehighton is always a good feeling. We worked well together, we pushed our limits.”

POW-WOW!!! ... Despite the loss, Lehighton represented strongly with some impressive play from Lillian Brown (27 digs), Vanessa Ahner (nine kills, 18 digs), and Sara Bradley (six kills, three aces, nine digs). The Tribe is now 9-7.

KELSEY KILLS IT ... Junior Kelsey Carroll, a three-year letterwinner for the Olympians, had another strong showing, as she finished the night with 20 digs, 13 assists and 13 kills, proving to do it all for Coach Nichols.

DON’T GET FROSH!! ... Not only the present, but the future looks bright for JT volleyball, as freshmen Brandy Montemuro (25 digs and 11 assists), Autumn Snyder (seven kills) and Abbey McGinley (10 digs) all made key contributions.

NO ‘I’ IN TEAM ... Olympian senior Alex McGinley finished an impressive night with 22 digs, Jordan Waselus had nine digs and six kills, while Tamara Encarnacion added nine assists for the well-rounded team effort.