{"id":200460,"date":"2026-05-23T05:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/200460\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:07:40","slug":"d2-volleyball-crestwood-captures-class-2a-championship-hazleton-standard-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/200460\/","title":{"rendered":"D2 VOLLEYBALL: Crestwood captures Class 2A championship \u2013 Hazleton Standard Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s Zach Koons sets the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Koirey Tang and Max Mohutsky attempt to block Crestwood\u2019s Ben Reilley during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s boys volleyball team celebrates during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Jack McCue attempts to block Crestwood\u2019s Eric Rinehimer during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Jack Wasiakowski serves during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s Larry Little serves during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s head coach Jeff Stec hugs JJ Stec after his team won the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s boys volleyball team after the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Koirey Tang sets the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s JJ Stec bumps the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s Luke Joseph and Deven Paulson go for the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Brandon Del Balso attempts to block Crestwood\u2019s Eric Rinehimer during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crestwood\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s head coach Jeff Stec talks to his players during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 13<\/p>\n

Crestwood\u2019s Zach Koons sets the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

SCRANTON \u2014 The Scranton High School gymnasium was rocking. The Crestwood student section, seated right behind the team, was on their feet.<\/p>\n

The energy was coursing through the building, but for some reason, Larry Little felt a sense of relaxation behind the service line as the Comets were one point away from a District 2 Class 2A boys volleyball championship Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, you would be nervous in a spot like that, but for some reason, I wanted to be back there. I felt confident, and I didn\u2019t want to put any weight on my teammates,\u201d Little said. \u201cI got back there, smile on my face, and I knew I was going to ice this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little came through.<\/p>\n

The senior ripped an ace on match point as Crestwood rallied for the 3-1 win (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20) over Holy Redeemer to claim the district crown.<\/p>\n

Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins June 2. Crestwood will play the third placer from District 12, while Holy Redeemer takes on the District 3 runner-up.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s Crestwood win also avenges two losses to the Royals \u2014 falling in the regular-season finale and in the one-game Wyoming Valley Conference playoff, both in five sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a trust in each other,\u201d Crestwood senior Eric Rinehimer said. \u201cBasically, all of us have been playing since we were freshmen, and we play AAU together. Outside of volleyball, we are always hanging out together. We love each other, and trust each other. I think that\u2019s what sets us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Stec gathered his boys in the huddle after the Royals won the final five points of the first set for a 25-20 lead and a 1-0 advantage.<\/p>\n

He reminded his senior-laden squad, a group that has been playing together for years now, that they were in a similar position in last year\u2019s district championship. However, the roles were reversed with Crestwood taking the first set, and Holy Redeemer winning the next three to capture district gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked really hard the last four years. We took a program that won two games in 2022, and have now won 18 games. Every year, we\u2019ve put in the work and the guys got better,\u201d Crestwood coach Jeff Stec said. \u201cUnfortunately, it didn\u2019t go our way last year, but being in this environment, it\u2019s a big thing for the mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Comets took the second set, 25-22, to tie the match at 1-1, Crestwood senior hitter JJ Stec upped his game. At one point, he had three kills and a block, leading his team on a 6-1 run for a 20-14 lead in the third.<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer got it back to 23-19, but an attack error and a cross-court spike from Little gave the Comets a 2-1 lead after a 25-19 win in the third.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always have those first-set jitters,\u201d Jeff Stec said. \u201cWe knew if we could play the way we normally play, the tides would turn. We just had to relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth belonged to senior Rinehimer.<\/p>\n

The Comet had six kills in the fourth, including a massive block to give Crestwood a 21-19 lead. Right after the block, the 6-foot-2 opposite hitter screamed at the top of his lungs, waving his arms up and down for the student section to get on their feet.<\/p>\n

In that very moment, Rinehimer could sense it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were here last year and lost. We were so close to winning it last year, and we already lost to them twice in two close, five-set matches. To come out here, and come back from being down a set, it means everything to us,\u201d Rinehimer said.<\/p>\n

Redeemer got it back to 22-20 on a Jack Wasiakowski spike, but back-to-back kills by Little and JJ Stec set up match point as Little recorded his third ace of the match to clinch gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the third time playing them, so you kind of get into a routine,\u201d Little said. \u201cThat\u2019s what happened back there. This is a long time in the making for us. For us seniors, it\u2019s a perfect ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koirey Tang had 17 kills and 11 blocks to lead Redeemer, while Wasiakowski had 30 assists, 11 kills, nine digs and seven points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough to beat a good team three times within 16 days,\u201d Redeemer coach Jack Kablick said. \u201cEvery time we played them this year, we killed between 45% and 50%. Tonight, we killed at 26. We got outkilled, and the games were still close. Our guys are good athletes, and always fight back. They never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crestwood\u2019s Zach Koons sets the ball during the 2A championship game at Scranton High School in Scranton on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-200460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}