Swept Away
SHALER TWP — Kennedy Christy doesn't remember much from the last time she was in the Shaler High School gym.
While diving for a ball in a volleyball match against the Titans, a knee slammed into the side of the Knoch senior's head. To make matters worse, her head then smashed against the floor.
“I remember trying to get up and then getting dizzy and rolling back down on the floor,” Christy said.
Then a blank.
Christy returned to the floor for the first time since the concussion nearly three weeks ago, quickly shook off the rust and helped Knoch to a dominating 25-11, 25-18, 25-20 win over South Fayette in the first round of the PIAA 3A playoffs Tuesday night.
Christy didn't play the first set, but was a mainstay in the next two sets. She had five kills, but her presence was more important than numbers.
Christy was only cleared to play again Monday.
“She's been able to do a few things in practice,” said Knoch coach Diane Geist. “She hasn't been able to go live against blockers, but she's served and passed.”
It was a long and difficult recovery from the head injury that cost Christy the WPIAL 3A playoffs. She watched from the bench as her teammates won the program's third straight WPIAL title without her.
“It was bittersweet when we won,” Christy said. “I was so proud of the team and everything they accomplished, but I wanted to be out there with them.”
Christy said she was as nervous as when she was a freshman when she entered the match against South Fayette.
“The team is playing so well,” Christy said. “I didn't want to go in and mess up the mojo.”
Nothing could mess with Knoch's mojo against South Fayette.
After falling behind 5-3 in the first set, Knoch scored 10 straight points to seize control.
The Knights were never really threatened in any set of the match.
Blocking at the net had a lot to do with that. The Knights had 15 blocks as a team.
“We got into their heads,” said Knoch senior Skylar Burkett.
“We were blocking well,” Geist said. “We were pretty sharp.”
Hannah Rowe, who missed some time herself in October with a back injury, led Knoch with 10 kills. Burkett added nine.
Knoch (22-1) will play Franklin Regional Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
The Knights, now at full strength again for the first time in a month and with momentum, may be a tough out.
“(Playing without Rowe and Christy) definitely brought us closer together,” Geist said. “We don't take anything for granted.”
Christy saw that first-hand as the team's biggest cheerleader on the bench.
“I'm proud of our team,” Christy said. “There wasn't one person on this team who didn't work their hardest while Hannah and I were out.”
