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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Jack Kablick fondly remembers his 2009 Holy Redeemer girls&#8217; volleyball team that reached the PIAA state semifinals.</p><p>That season, the Royals pushed eventual state champ Merion Mercy five sets.</p><p>The veteran head coach was then asked to compare that team with the 2016 version of the Royals that will take on District 5 champ North Star in Tuesday&#8217;s PIAA Class 2A state semifinal at Cumberland Valley High School.</p><p>&#8220;Two totally different teams. They really are,&#8221; Kablick said.</p><p>Tuesday&#8217;s match is part of the tripleheader at Cumberland Valley. Redeemer&#8217;s game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. following the Class 1A contest between Marion Catholic and Berlin Brothersvalley.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s great to get back to the semifinals,&#8221; Kablick said. &#8220;You can see the excitement in everyone&#8217;s eye. There was so much energy on that ride back from Exeter Township, talking about this play or that play. The atmosphere was great, and it was nice to see our crowd.&#8221;</p><p>Of course, everyone likes to compare teams. It&#8217;s just part of the nature in sports.</p><p>Yet, it&#8217;s so hard to put the 2009 and 2016 side-by-side just because of how different they are.</p><p>&#8220;Honestly, there are very little similarities,&#8221; Kablick said. &#8220;About 70-plus percent of our sets on that 2009 team went to Monica Wignot, who was a Division I player, and it didn&#8217;t matter where she was. She was as good in the back row as she was in the front row. Plus, we had a lot of experience with Mary Loughran as our setter. Back then, people knew Monica was going to get the set and there wasn&#8217;t much anyone could do about it.&#8221;</p><p>The 2016 version?</p><p>&#8220;I think this team is so diverse,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Right now, Amanda (Curcio), Brynn (Kukosky) and Skylar (Osenkarski) are really hitting the ball well. But we also have hitters like Samantha Carr and Sarah Liskowicz who have come up big in spots. Really, those two are going to drive the bus next year. When you look at our team, I believe that we have five good hitters.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s hard to put your finger on the exact moment when Redeemer started to peak.</p><p>You saw glimpses against Delaware Valley early in the season even though the Royals sustained their first conference defeat.</p><p>You saw flashes of brilliance in the district final against Dunmore.</p><p>You observed gut and grit in the first two state games against District 4 champ North Penn-Liberty and District 1 champ New Hope-Solebury.</p><p>&#8220;I think you have seen steady growth every day,&#8221; Kablick said. &#8220;You see that each day, each practice, they grow and mature. Really, the biggest attribute was the chemistry. This team has great chemistry, and you have to have it because you have six girls on the court at the same time running and playing at a high level.</p><p>&#8220;We were young and inexperienced when we first started. Brynn kind of remained in her role, but we had to switch things around. Ashley (Andrejko) was our setter for junior varsity, so she had to learn about varsity setting. Amanda, an all-state middle last year, also started setting &#8211; something she didn&#8217;t do since her freshman year. Then, you have to factor in all of the sophomores we were going to ask to step up and play a big role.&#8221;</p><p>Now, all attention turns to North Star &#8211; which lost in the Class 1A championship in 2015. The District 5 champ stunned Delone Catholic Saturday. Delone was the No. 1-ranked 2A team in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.</p><p>&#8220;I was kind of surprised because we knew that Delone had an ultra-quality team,&#8221; Kablick said. &#8220;North Star is really good, and I don&#8217;t know if many people knew how good they really were. Jackie Stanko is an all-state player that can play from the front or back. They have a few 5-foot-10 outsides, and a three-year varsity setter. This team is going to be tough.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Amanda Curcio, right, has been a driving force at the net for the Royals during the postseason, along with Brynn Kukosky and Skylar Osenkarski. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_crestwoodhr01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Amanda Curcio, right, has been a driving force at the net for the Royals during the postseason, along with Brynn Kukosky and Skylar Osenkarski. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox file photo | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Holy Redeemer returns to state girls volleyball semifinals