ORWIGSBURG – The chill in the air outside the Blue Mountain High School gym was more bearable than the hot air inside for most people watching the opening match of the District 11 Class 2A volleyball tournament semifinal doubleheader.

Unfortunately for Jim Thorpe, it wasn’t a good night on all accounts. Seeded second in a four-team field, the Olympians were hurt by mistakes and breakdowns against familiar foe Pine Grove.

Falling in the first set, the Olympians did have an answer in the next two sets, but couldn’t string enough momentum in their sails, as they watched the Cardinals roar back with wins in the fourth and fifth sets to walk away with a stunning 3-2 win.

The win advances Pine Grove to Tuesday’s championship round at Pottsville’s Martz Hall to face the defending 2A champion Panther Valley, which rousted four-seed Schuylkill Haven in three sets.

If anyone thought the Pine Grove was still sulking over its previous loss earlier in the season to Thorpe, there were no ill effects.

“They (swept) us at their place, but it was a long bus ride for us. We didn’t play particularly well, against a very good team that night,” said Pine Grove coach Daryl Wesner.

There was nothing fancy about Wesner’s approach. “We just have to stop giving the other team points,” he said when asked about the game plan. “We just had to hang in there and keep playing … and it worked.”

Jim Thorpe had rallied from a two-point deficit late in the first set to surge in front 21-19, getting a huge point from the back row by Alexandra McGinley for the lead. Then things fizzled as Pine Grove picked itself off the floor and rallied to close the deal when Maura Lehman worked a kill for the first set win.

“We left that game get away,” said Thorpe coach, Victoria Nichols. “Our defense left us down, they got (points) on shots that we knew we should be there for.”

The Olympians looked like the No. 2 seed in the next two sets, and especially in the second set when they rumbled to an impressive 25-15 win. Thorpe was clicking on all cylinders and carried that momentum over into the third set, where they carved out a 25-21 win.

However there was a lull in set four. The Cardinals rallied late in the set coming from alive with a pair of key points getting an Abrianna Chua’s ace and a kill by Lehman to send the game into the fifth set.

In the deciding set, Pine Grove broke loose from a 7-7 tie and went on to post a 15-10 win.

“I was very disappointed the way we played but still proud of my players on their effort, heart and desire,” said Nichols.

HARD DAYS NIGHT … Game started at 5:30 didn’t end until 7:40.

TIME OUTS! ... Wesner was rather clever in his coaching style. He used every timeout available. He later admitted it was to at times get “the other team out of their rhythm.”

COUNTING NUMBERS … Kelsey Carroll is without question one of the stars in the Schuylkill Girls Volleyball League. The Thorpe junior had four aces, 20 digs and seven kills. McGinley had 15 digs and 4 kills, and Mackenzie Rosenberger, in her final game for the Olympians, had four aces, eight digs and eight kills. Lehman’s 19 kills led Pine Grove.