By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
SAYRE — Sayre's storybook season continued Tuesday night, with the latest chapter a come-from-behind, five-set win over District 2 champion Mountain View in the opening round of the PIAA, Class A volleyball playoffs.
The Redskins, now 12-9, dropped the first two sets 25-22 and 25-23, but bounced back with wins of 26-24 and 25-14 to force the decisive fifth set.
In the finale, Mountain View built a 12-8 lead, but Sayre again rallied to win a 16-14 decision in its first-ever state playoff match to advance to the state quarterfinals and a match-up against unbeaten District 3 champ Linville Hill (21-0) Saturday at a site and time to be announced.
"Coming back from down 2-0 says a lot about these girls," said first-year Sayre coach Colby Sangrey. " I mean, these girls never give up.
"I'm just at a loss for words, for them continuing to fight and giving it their all ... because it's very easy to see yourself down in that position and to give up.
Sangrey said the keys to the comeback were "energy, positivity, and just playing smart volleyball.
"We were playing with that way in the first two sets, but we really amped it up in the third, the fourth, and the fifth sets," he added. "It gave us all that momentum to come back and take it."
The Redskins led for the majority of the first set, but the Eagles rallied late to take a 21-20 lead — their first lead of the set.
Sayre senior Rylee Lantz registered a block to tie the opening set at 21-21, but Sayre followed with a side-out and Mountain View served up two points to take a 24-21 lead on its way to the 25-22 win.
In the second set, neither team had more than a two-point service run, but Mountain View built a three-point advantage at 10-7 and held off Sayre for a 25-23 win in the second set.
"It's nice playing against a team that's got good service and can side-out quickly because it makes us think a little bit about our serving and where we're going, and how we're going to go on those runs," said Sangrey. "I think that was the big part in those first two sets — we didn't get any serving runs.
"And even in the third, we were with them the whole time, and we got that last little run there at the end to take it, but we figured it out in the fourth set for sure," noted Sangrey.
"And then right there at the end of the fifth is when it kicked in, which was huge," he added.
The third set was much of the same until sophomore Grace Russo had a pair of service points, including an ace, to tie the set at 22-22.
After four consecutive side-outs saw the third set tied at 24-24, junior Yhale Doon served up an ace, then had the winning serve, thanks to a kill by Lantz, for a 26-24 victory.
Russo started off the fourth set with seven straight service points, including a pair of aces and kills by Lantz and sophomore Reghan McGaughey, to give the Redskins a 7-0 lead.
Sayre stretched its advantage to 12-3 on three straight points by Doon.
Mountain View pulled within six, at 19-13, but moments later Doon served up four straight points to give the Redskins a 25-14 win.
In the fifth set, the teams traded serves and points until a three-point run gave Mountain View a 10-6 lead, which was 12-7 moments later.
After a side-out made it 12-8 and gave the serve back to Sayre, Russo served up six straight points, including two aces and a block by Lantz, to give the Redskins a 14-12 lead.
After a side-out, Mountain View tied the match at 14-14, but a McGaughey kill gave the serve back to Sayre, and McGaughey then served up an ace to give the Redskins a 16-14 win.
Lantz led Sayre with 12 kills, three blocks, and two service aces, while Doon had five aces, 30 setter assists, and nine digs, and freshman Lilliana Schack had eight kills, eight digs, and three aces.
McGaughey had three aces, nine kills, two assist, and six digs for the Redskins, while junior Alex Schack had five kills and six digs, while Russo had six aces and 10 digs, and sophomore Azalea McClenny added three kills.
Sangrey said the postseason wins will be a big benefit to the program's future.
"It's huge. I'm just super happy for the girls to be able to experience this," he said. "They've worked through the past couple of years, and then we got that district experience and they played well and really took advantage of it.
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IN PHOTO 1: Sayre sophomore Grace Russo. IN TOP PHOTO: Sayre celebrates winning the fourth set. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
