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Both teams were in shock. The crowd was in shock, too. As it became apparent that North Penn-Liberty's undefeated reign over District 4 volleyball — which lasted parts of six seasons, five whole calendar years and 83 matches would come to an end — Wyalusing’s players just could not help but smile, presumably to stop the tears that would soon arrive from dripping prematurely down their face.
Wyalusing played their best volleyball and pulled off one of the great upsets in the history of the Northern Tier League, defeating North Penn-Liberty, 3-0, (25-23, 25-23, 25-17) Thursday evening for the District 4 Class AA championship at Williamson High School.
"It's just insane, unfathomable," Ram senior captain Reann Rodriguez said after the match, summing up the thoughts of those in attendance supporting both teams.
While the outcome was unexpected, it was not luck, or some sort of fluke, that led Wyalusing to victory. They were the better team in the biggest moments and continued to build on playing their best volleyball down the stretch.
It did not start out well for Wyalusing, though. A team that was thrilled to have even advanced to the finals after defeating Williamson on Williamson's home floor Tuesday night started slow in Thursday's championship match, as North-Penn Liberty won ten of the first 11 points to take a 10-1 lead. Somewhere, slowly, but surely the momentum started to change.
Wyalusing started to settle down, and get back to the tough defense they're known for, and started turning it into offense. Kills by Olivia Tewksberry (4 kills, 2 blocks, 3 aces, 8 digs), Emilee Otis (27 assists, 2 kills, 1 ace), Anna Kipp (7 kills, 6 digs) and Sage Superko (6 kills, 3 blocks) cut the Mountie lead to 12-10, and made it very evident that this was going to be no steamrolling, something that the Mounties have down countless times throughout their indomitable streak.
North-Penn Liberty responded, though, and took a 20-17 lead after Aubrey Pequinot (5 kills, 14 assists) found the floor with a crafty dump and two points later led 22-17 on a Sage Lehman (5 aces, 5 kills, 14 assists) ace. The first real sign that this match would not be like the nearly seven dozen before it came soon after.
The big points that North Penn-Liberty exceled at winning for so long started going Wyalusing's way. Two London Edwards kiills (2 kills, 10 digs) and a Superko kill, kill, block sequence made the score 23-21 Mounties. Two Mountie errors put the set on the shoulder of Edwards, and she served out the set with back-to-back aces, sending the Ram team and crowd into a frenzy, as they led 1-0.
The second set started out close, as the teams split the first two-dozen points, 12-12. But, a 4-0 Wyalusing run gave it a 16-12 lead and it seemed all the momentum was on their side. North Penn-Liberty fought back, though, and ran off a 7-1 run to give themselves a 19-17 lead.
Once again, when the going got tough, Wyalusing got going. Two Edwards kills sandwiched around a Kipp kill gave Wyalusing a 23-22, and a Karissa Brown kill (5 kills, 5 digs) gave the Rams a set point. After a Pequinot kill, Superko ended the set with a kill of her own, putting Wyalusing up 2-0 and leaving the Mounties in disbelief.
The third set was all Wyalusing.
Errors started to pile up for a visibly frustrated, inexperienced Mounties team in a situation, down 2-0, they had not faced in over five years. When Priscilla Newton (23 digs, 1 kill, 1 assist) found the floor, Wyalusing led 14-7 and Cinderella's ball was looking more and more likely to have a happy ending.
North Penn-Liberty had one final run in them, and an Alexia Kshir (1 kill, 2 assists, 7 digs) block brought the score to within 17-14.
Wyalusing buckled down, though, and started to close in on a championship. Three Kipp kills helped Wyalusing take a 23-16 lead, forcing Liberty's final timeout, turning the Wyalusing side of the gymnasium into a madhouse. After another Kipp kill down the line made it 24-17, the Mounties were unable to handle the ensuing Newton serve, and David had comprehensively slayed Goliath, handing Wyalusing their first district title since 2014.
Wyalusing will play next Tuesday at home against the District 2 champion.