SCRANTON — In an otherwise dominant season, the only team out there that could trip Crestwood up all year was Holy Redeemer.
They met in the regular season, and the Royals won in five sets. Conference title on the line, it was the Royals again in five.
Crestwood switched things up May 21 in the District 2 Class 2A championship match: the Comets only needed four sets, and they got their win back against Redeemer when it mattered most.
The Comets rallied from a first-set loss to win the final three for a 2-1 victory over Holy Redeemer in the Class 2A championship, played at Scranton High School.
Larry Little’s aces proved key for Crestwood: the senior put the Comets ahead two sets to one with an ace to win the third set, then replicated the feat in the fourth to secure championship point and kick-start the celebration for his teammates.
“Usually I’d be nervous, but I’d rather no one else be back there (serving) than myself, ” Little said. “I didn’t want to put the weight on my teammates … I knew I was going to ice that game.”
Though the third match in Redeemer and Crestwood’s season trilogy didn’t go the distance, all four sets were played tight from wire to wire and highlighted just how evenly matched the Wyoming Valley Conference’s two best programs have been this year.
The Royals never had a lead bigger than five points, but kept Crestwood at arm’s length in the opening set to grind out a 25-21 victory.
The second set went largely the same way, but with Crestwood in front: the Comets took the lead for good at 4-3, grew the lead to as many as six points but had to fend off a late charge from Redeemer for a 25-22 win.
It was there, though, where the Comets refused to allow Holy Redeemer to seize back momentum: Crestwood won the third set 25-19 and the fourth and final set by a 25-20 score.
“We always have those first-set jitters,” Crestwood head coach Jeff Stec said. “We knew if we could play the way we normally play, the tides would turn.”
In the deciding set, Crestwood took the lead for good at 12-11 and then had an answer for every mini Holy Redeemer rally.
A lot of the time, the answer was simply to feed the ball out wide to Eric Rinehimer.
The senior outside hitter finished with 14 kills, several coming in rapid succession down the stretch as the Comets were able to tire Holy Redeemer out and finally put them away for good.
“Zack (Koons) trusts me big time, I knew I was going to get set a lot,” Rinehimer said. “I knew I had to deliver, I knew that this was big.”
Fellow outside hitter JJ Stec had 11 kills for the Comets, the two seniors leading the way on a very senior-laden Crestwood team.
Koirey Tang had 17 kills for Holy Redeemer, providing a spark for the Royals late in the match as they tried to extend the match to a fifth set.
Jack Wasiakowski added 11 kills while also dishing out 30 assists with nine digs and five blocks.
Despite the result, both Crestwood and Holy Redeemer will continue their seasons when the PIAA Class 2A playoffs get underway.
Crestwood earned the right to a first-round home game June 2, when the Comets hosted District 12 third seed, Masterman.
