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NORRISTOWN – Upper Merion was in dire need of a big play. Avon Grove’s all-everything outside hitter MacKenzie Kleespies, who was all but unstoppable, had just slammed home a kill to give the Red Devils a 13-12 lead in the winner-take-all fifth game of Wednesday’s District One Class AAA semifinal.
Devyn Ingram – the Vikings’ go-to player - delivered a clutch kill to knot the score, and then it was Heather Krick’s turn to come up big. Upper Merion’s junior middle hitter met Kleespies at the net for a monster block that put the Vikings on top 14-13.
“We lose if she doesn’t do that,” coach Tony Funsten said.
“I knew we needed it at the end,” Krick said. “It was really tight, and we just couldn’t seem to zone in on her the entire game.
“We knew this was our last shot to win districts, so I just had to do something right at the end of the game. After that block, I yelled so loud my throat hurt. I was jumping up and down.”
The Red Devils knotted the score, but they were never the same.
A net violation was followed by a Red Devil hit out of play, and the Vikings – who trailed by three late in the fifth game – had escaped with a gutsy 3-2 win (25-18, 25-17, 15-25, 20-25, 16-14).
“I thought they had it,” junior setter Cassidy Koenig said. “They were up the whole time in the last three games.
“We were - as a team - freaking out. When we won, that’s the most excited I have ever been in my life.”
The win propelled the top-seeded Vikings into Saturday’s district final against Unionville at Norristown High School at 4:30 p.m.
“I would have liked to have played better tonight, but hey, I’ll take the win because sometimes you play great and don’t win,” Funsten said. “The will to win is why we won.
“We didn’t really play our best, but we’re in the final. Let’s see what we do with it. Give them credit – they started playing perfectly, as perfectly as they could play.”The Red Devils were able to hang with the Vikings for one simple reason – Kleespies.
Consider only a play the junior star made late in the pivotal fifth game. It looked as if Koenig had delivered match point when – with her team on top 14-13 – she pushed the ball toward the wide open back corner of the court. That’s when Kleespies appeared out of nowhere to make a one-handed dig.
“She’s so fast,” Koenig said. “She knows me, and she knows I do that a lot.”
The Red Devils went on to win the point and knot the score.
“Kleespies is such a handful,” Funsten said. “That ball – 99 times out of a hundred, Cassidy won the game with that ball.
“How did she get it? How did she get that ball? Her hands are so quick. I think she’s going to play as a libero at some major, major college like Penn State or Stanford. Nothing is down against her.”
For the first two games, the Vikings managed to keep Kleespies somewhat under wraps.
In game one, Ingram delivered a kill to put the Vikings on top 12-11, and then the senior outside hitter stepped to the service line and reeled off four straight points to give her team a 16-11 lead. Melanie Ingram delivered a kill to cap that run.
The Vikings went on to open up a 20-13 lead and put the game away when Devyn Ingram delivered a kill for game point.
Game two was more of the same. A Casey Griffith kill put the Vikings on top 13-11, and it was still a three-point game after another Griffith kill (15-12). A line ace by Shannon Phillips made it a 16-12 game, and another Griffith kill extended that lead to five. The diminutive Griffith turned in a huge 17-kill effort – a career high - to lead the Vikings at the net.
“She had a fabulous game, and we needed it,” Funsten said. “She got more swings and matchups tonight.
“We were sometimes out of system, and Cassidy feels very comfortable going to Casey. She recognized her as the hottest hand we had.”
The Vikings led 18-12 after an Annie Lawn winner, and another winner by Koenig – who had 14 kills in another fine outing – made it a 19-12 game. The Red Devils pulled to within six, but they would get no closer as the Vikings rolled to the 25-17 win.
Any thoughts that a win was in the books for the Vikings went out the window when the Red Devils rolled to a 25-15 win in game three and followed that with a 25-20 win in game four, knotting the score 2-2 and making things real interesting.
“We really slowed down after the first two games,” Devyn Ingram said. “We pretty much thought, ‘Oh this is in the bag. We won the first two games.’
“We have never really had someone who has come back on us after we were up two games.”
Unofficially, Kleespies had 11 kills in the third game alone, including the final three points of the contest. In the fourth game, she also had 11 kills and six more in the fifth game. Do the math, and Kleespies – who can deliver a kill from literally any spot on the court - had 28 kills in those three games alone.
“Every time she hits the ball, she pretty much gets a kill,” Koenig said matter-of-factly. “She’s so skilled.”
“She sees the court well,” Ingram added. “If you move, she hits to a different spot. She’ll hit to where you just were.
“If you do have the right timing, she’ll hit around the block.”
The Red Devils appeared to have all the momentum in the world heading into the fifth game. A Koenig dump put the Vikings on top 2-1, and they led 3-2 after a Griffith kill. That lead grew to 4-2 after a back row attack violation by the Red Devils, and another Griffith kill put the Vikings on top 5-2, prompting the Red Devils to call a quick timeout.
A pair of Vikings hitting errors as well as four Kleespies kills put the Red Devils on top 8-5, and they still led 11-8 after a Maya Turner kill. Koenig answered with a winner, and then it was Krick delivering a kill to make it an 11-10 game.
The Red Devils led 12-10 after another Turner tip, and then – after a Viking timeout – Kleespies inexplicably hit back-to-back cross court kill attempts out of bounds, allowing the Vikings to knot the score 12-12. Kleespies responded by finishing off a kill to put her team on top 13-12. It turned out to be the Red Devils’ last hurrah.
When the Red Devils’ final hit sailed over the end for match point, the Vikings could at long last celebrate the emotional win as they were mobbed by their appreciative fans.So where does Thursday night’s win rate?
“At the top, definitely,” Koenig said. “They were up the whole time. It was just so intense.”
NOTES: Griffith led the Vikings with 17 kills to go along with 24 digs. Koenig had 14 kills, 32 assists and 17 digs. Devyn Ingram had 15 kills and 33 digs. Melanie Ingram added nine kills and 16 digs. Phillips led the defense with 28 digs. Krick ended up with three blocks while Lawn had three blocks and five kills.
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