Abington Heights girls volleyball coach Morgan Bailleau addresses her team during a timeout.
Tom Robinson | Abington Journal
Madison Smith serves for Abington Heights during the regular-season finale against Dunmore.
Tom Robinson | Abington Journal
SALEM TWP. – The Abington Heights girls volleyball team went from cellar dweller to playoff host and winner in one season, leaving coach Morgan Bailleau optimistic about what’s ahead.
“This year, I’ve got such a young group of girls – so much talent, so much promise, so much hope for the future,” Bailleau said after her team’s season ended with a three-set sweep by three-time defending champion Berwick Oct. 30 in the District 2-4 Class 3A Subregional quarterfinals. “They have so much more of a drive for success than I’ve ever seen before.”
That drive took a team that was 3-14 and lost in both Lackawanna League Division 1 and the Class 3A playoff qualifying race in 2022 all the way to 14 wins and a subregional semifinal appearance. The progress was made despite having just two seniors on the roster.
“It was a big step forward,” Bailleau said. “I think the girls this year have just learned to grow together and fight each point together as a team rather than six individuals.”
Once in the subregional semifinals, the Comets led briefly in the first set and several times in the second set before the Bulldogs stormed past them by scoring 36 of the match’s last 44 points.
Berwick won by set scores of 25-11, 25-15, 25-8.
“They’re strong,” Bailleau said of Berwick. “I think something we need to learn from is just fighting adversity and coming back from the tough moments, the lows; because when we’re high, we’re high, but when we’re low, we’re low.
“ … We have to take a deep breath, focus and reset for the next point.”
Before the Berwick onslaught, the teams were tied 10 times in the second set, which featured five lead changes.
The Bulldogs tied the set the last time Abington Heights served, then Claire Riera-Gomez served the last 10 points.
“Abington Heights did a really good job of making adjustments and made us work really hard on defense,” Berwick coach Sarah Warner said. “So, it took us a minute or two to kind of read what they were doing, adjust to the changes and get ourselves back under control.”
Riera-Gomez finished with 16 service points, three aces, 11 kills and six digs.
“Serves were huge by Claire,” Warner said, “and, then offensively, we made some really smart choices.”
After Abington Heights led 3-0 in the third set, Cassidy Evans served six straight points, then Zoey Force served nine more in a row for a 17-4 lead.
Sadie O’Brien had four blocks and Madison Smith had 20 digs to lead Abington Heights. Brielle Wentz added 11 digs and seven assists while Regan Allison had 13 digs and two aces.
The Comets reached the semifinal by overcoming a loss in the first set at home to beat Dallas 23-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-18.
Lackawanna Trail had its 11-6 season come to an end in the District 2 Class A semifinals when third-seeded Mountain Views swept the Lady Lions 25-16, 25-16, 25-23 Oct. 29 at Blue Ridge.
Mountain View ended a six-match winning streak by Lackawanna Trail.
The Lady Lions went 9-5 for sixth in the 15-team Lackawanna League, one spot behind Abington Heights (10-4).
