Twin Valley defeats Exeter in high school girls volleyball

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After falling to Wilson in the 2023 BCIAA girls volleyball championship, Twin Valley entered the 2024 season hungry for redemption in the Berks Girls Volleyball League.

"We're pretty hungry," senior Mikayla Riehl said. "We are driving towards it (a county championship) and we're working hard."

The Raiders took a step in the right direction towards achieving that goal, as Twin Valley defeated Exeter 3-1 in a Berks I matchup at Reiffton to give the Eagles their first league loss of the season.

With the win, the Raiders (4-1, 5-2), Exeter (4-1, 7-2) and the Bulldogs (4-1, 6-3) now have a three-way tie atop the Berks I standings.

"It was a big win for us tonight to put our names back in the hat again," Twin Valley coach Bob Robinette said. "The three of us at the top now are all 3-1 (league record) so that's good. That's good and something we were looking for. We'll see what happens with the rest of the year, and with the three of us it should be a fun season. I think any of the three teams can win on any given night."

The Raiders won on Thursday night after playing to scores of 25-16, 25-21,14-25 and 25-22.

For Twin Valley, Mikayla Riehl finished the night with 15 kills, 10 digs and six blocks, senior Addison Hertzog had 31 assists, 10 digs and four blocks, senior Casey Levan had seven kills and 12 digs and junior Marie Riehl ended the night with seven kills, seven digs and four blocks.

Holding a 22-16 lead in what would prove to be the decisive fourth set, the Eagles scored five unanswered points to get one off the lead. However, an out of bounds serve followed by a block on the ensuing play put the Raiders in position to secure the win.

With the score 24-22, Hertzog assisted senior Delany Hoover for the match-winning kill. Hoover had one ace, four kills, three digs and two blocks.

Also, for Twin Valley, senior Abby Mooney had four kills, two digs and one block, freshman Bree Salaneck had 12 digs and four assists and sophomore Tori Kane had five digs.

"I think our key to victory was playing for each other," Mikayla Riehl said."But we really pushed through, we focused and we made sure we stayed aggressive, especially with our defense and our offense in general.

"We worked really hard to lock down our blocking, get them set up in the right places, and that was something we've been working on all week and for the past month, for sure."

To force the fourth set, Exeter took the lead at 11-10 in the third set and never looked back. Holding a 15-14 lead in the third set, the Eagles scored 10 unanswered.

For the Eagles, Sophomore Lily Acker had 32 assists and five digs, sophomore Jillian Warner had 13 kills and 13 digs and senior Sami Baer had 20 digs and two aces.

Prior to Thursday, Exeter's lone loss was a 3-2 defeat against Cumberland Valley. Otherwise, the Eagles had fallen in just two sets all season and defeated reigning Berks champion Wilson 3-1 in their previous game.

"Our division is very competitive at the top and on any given night. Wilson, Twin Valley or Exeter, could be winning 3-0 with one team winning the one night, and then the other team winning 3-0 the next night," Exeter coach Jason Grove said. "Or it could go five (sets). No outcome is out of the realm of possibilities

"When any of these teams play their best, they're really tough to beat. When we get to the postseason, it will be a matter of who plays the best in the playoffs.

"I'm optimistic about our chances. We have good things we need to work on. We just need to get a little more consistent. So there's no real rhyme or reason to it. When we play with some energy. I think we're as good as any team in District 3."

Moving forward, Mikayla Riehl said she believes the win is a sign of good things to come as Twin Valley looks to remain a contender in a heavily contested field.

"It shows that we have a lot of potential," Mikayla Riehl said, "that we can get there and we can do it."

Originally Published: September 20, 2024 at 5:54 a.m.