WILKES-BARRE – District 2 Class 3A girls volleyball championships are becoming familiar for Nanticoke Area, but the Trojanettes got their latest with a big boost from a new addition to this year’s lineup.
Rayza Ruiz had a team-high 18 kills, along with nine digs while also contributing two aces, two assists and two blocks Wednesday night when Nanticoke Area turned back Tunkhannock at Wilkes University.
The 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-13 win made the Trojanettes 3-for-3 in championship pursuits since the PIAA expanded girls volleyball to four classes, separating Nanticoke Area from 11-time defending Class 2A champion Holy Redeemer.
Ruiz, who transferred to Nanticoke Area from Puerto Rico in January, was not around for the first two. She fit right into the lineup of the second-place Trojanettes, leading the Wyoming Valley Conference in service points while showing the ability to help all over the court.
“We like her anywhere on the court,” Nanticoke Area coach Debbie Gavin said. “She can pop the ball, plus she’s a good passer, a good server and she’s a very smart player.”
Ruiz found one particular spot from which to hurt Tunkhannock with Nanticoke trailing 16-12 in game two.
Rielly Miller, who expertly ran the Nanticoke Area offense with 36 assists, found Ruiz twice in a row on the left side for kills.
That combination again worked for consecutive points, the first of which came by mixing in a well-placed shot between the powerful swings. Those points tied the game, then put Nanticoke Area ahead to stay on the way to scoring 13 of the final 15 points.
Alyssa Lewis served up six straight points early in the rally, then Mandy Biehl served the final four of the game with the help from another well-placed finish by Ruiz.
“I was very excited,” Ruiz said, with her mother Jeannette Maldonado serving as interpreter. “I was very proud of what I did in that second set.”
The first three games featured many momentum shifts.
Nanticoke Area opened a 16-11 lead in opener, but Tunkhannock rallied behind five straight service points by Molly Goodwin to take a pair of one-point leads.
The Trojanettes recovered to pull out the tight game when Miller set up Lewis for the final point.
“She’s our quarterback,” Gavin said of Miller.
After the big finish in game two, Nanticoke Area extended its advantage to 22 of 26 points, opening a 9-2 lead in game three.
Tunkhannock fought back with the help of some strong play at the net by sophomore Dana Macko.
Megan Straley had consecutive kills to bring the Tigers within one, then put the team ahead with five straight points on her serve.
Straley and Goodwin crossed each other up on the final point of the game, but they may have also fooled the Trojanettes in the process as the ball dropped in harmlessly when they got it over the net.
After Tunkhannock scored the first three points of the fourth game and led 4-3, Nanticoke regained command and won comfortably.
“That last game, we really wanted to put them away,” Gavin said. “I think you saw in the second and third game, our passing got a little haywire there.
“We had to stop, pause, get our passing back, regroup, which we did.”
Lewis had 12 digs, seven kills and seven aces in the win. Jilann Baron finished with five blocks, four kills, three aces and two digs. Myla Vnuk had 11 kills and Meghan Duda added seven digs.
Macko and Jena Simmons each had seven kills while Goodwin had six for Tunkhannock.
“We haven’t won a championship since 2002, so it was awesome to make it here,” first-year Tunkhannock head coach Karen Passarelli said.
